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The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Uguru Usani, has alleged that some state officials were sabotaging development initiatives in Akwa Ibom, especially infrastructure development in Oboyo, Ikot, Ita and Ikot Ekpene.
Usani made this disclosure on Saturday in Nsit Ibom and Ikot Ekpene Local Government Areas of the state during an assessment of work done by contractors handling the 40 housing units.
The minister said that officials of the ministry in the state had failed to propagate the necessary information on the projects, which the ministry had been executing in the state.
He queried:
“What are you doing here as a coordinator when you don’t know the contractors handling this project.
“As a state coordinator, you have no documents on this project to show that the owners of these property involved have been compensated”
The minister alleged that some of the officials of the ministry were conniving with contractors on site, leading to contractors not taking the projects seriously.
He warned all contractors handling the ministry’s projects to go back to site and make sure that their work was commensurate with the money collected from the ministry or return the money for the contract to be re-allocated.
The minister explained that the houses were built to compensate the indigenes, whose lands were taken by the Federal Government for oil exploration.
The minister also said that some displaced people, who gave up their lands for the peace of the country would also benefit from the housing scheme. He said that the nine oil producing states of Delta, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Bayelsa, Edo, Ondo, Imo and Abia would benefit from the 40 housing units.