Paradise News

Category: Reports

  • Investigation: Akamkpa Community Left To Suffer After ₦297.7 Million Road Project Stalls

    By Archibong Jeremiah

    Residents of Ayeabam community in Akamkpa local government area in Southern Cross River State, are suffering due to an unfinished road project awarded by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in 2014 and the Cross River Basin Development Authority (CRBDA) in 2021. Both contractors abandoned the project, and NDDC violated the Public Procurement Act of 2007, TheInvestigator uncovered.

    The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) on Wednesday, 24th September 2014, contracted Bayou La Batre Ltd to construct the Ayeabam-Awi road in Akamkpa local  government area of Cross River State valued at ₦248,435,000.

    On the NDDC website, the contract is listed as a completed project, but an investigation by this digital newspaper reveals otherwise.

    Apart from lying that the project was completed, TheInvestigator established that NDDC violated section 16, sub 6(i) of the Public Procurement Act of 2007 in the contract awarded to Bayou La Batre Ltd.

    The company was registered by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) on Valentine’s Day, 14th of February 2012, its registration number is RC 1010063, and the directors are Ozigbu Johnbosco, Arigbodi Richardson, and Amangala George.

    It was incorporated for “petroleum products sales and distribution” services.
    Engaging it in constructing the Ayeabam-Awi road in Akamkpa violates section 16, sub 6(i) of the Public Procurement Act, 2007 which mandates that a bidder must have “professional and technical qualifications to carry out particular procurements.”

    Secondly, the company got the contract two years after incorporation which is not in line with the Public Procurement Act of 2007 that envisages that all contract-seeking entities would have been filing returns and paying tax, among other obligations, for three years prior by providing a tax clearance certificate.

    Tax clearance for 3 years is sacrosanct, a mandatory document required for review and certification, not operating for three years.

    An on-the-spot road assessment by TheInvestigator shows that Bayou La Batre Ltd abandoned the ₦248,435,000 project halfway. It began from the Mbarakom junction by the highway and ended at the stream that divides Awi and Ayeabam
    communities.

    Second Company Also Abandons Project

    To complete the half-job done by Bayou La Batre Ltd the Cross River Basin Development Authority contracted Bluecream Investment Limited in 2021.

    Rt. Hon. Daniel Asuquo, also known as Dansuki, a Member who represented the Akamkpa/Biase Federal constituency in the House of Representatives until 2023 facilitated the contract as his constituency project.

    Records from GovSpend, an analytics site designed to give user-friendly access to information on daily spending at all levels of government show that Bluecream Investment Limited was paid ₦49,280,231.38 for the construction of internal roads in the Ayeabam community – ₦40,316,743.88 was paid on 26th July 2021, and ₦8,963,487.50 on the 15th of July, 2022.

    At least Bayou La Batre Ltd did more than 55% of its job but Bluecream Investment Limited fell short of that because it abandoned the project in an early stage.

    Bluecream Investment Limited graded the road, poured a stone base, and provided gutters from Ayeabam junction in the Awi section of the Calabar-Ikom highway, and ended close to the Government Secondary School.

    Two years after receiving the second tranche of payment the company has not returned to the site, leaving the community residents to suffer.

    The CAC incorporated Bluecream Investment Limited on 30th June 2000, and the registration number is RC 384030 while the directors are Alice John Ikpeme, Nene Ikpeme Asuquo, and Effiong Asuquo.

    The Impact And Call For Action

    As a result of the abandonment, Ayeabam residents are left to suffer because the road’s unfinished state is leading to difficulty in using the Ayeabam axis of the road.

    Residents face difficulties in commuting and transporting goods due to the poor road conditions. Businesses in the area also suffer due to limited accessibility and potential increase in transportation costs.

    Speaking to TheInvestigator residents called for quick intervention from the
    procuring entities.

    Mr Ebin Okon Ita, Youth Secretary of Ayeabam community said the state of the road makes him feel bad and the contractor should be made to return to the site.

    He said, “The contractor should come back to the site because the state in which they left the road is worse than when we were managing it.”

    Pleading, the Youth Secretary said “Our plea to the government is that there should be a modality such that if a contractor is going to carry out any contract in a community he should first meet the community and let us know the designs and dimensions of the project so that we also will monitor the job.

    “It is our own, if the government has remembered us we have so many communities and it remembers a community like ours it is not something that the contractor will come and do a shallow job believing that we don’t have anybody who will question them,” Mr Ebin said.

    Furthermore, he enunciated “It makes me feel bad because these contracts are awarded through the politicians that we voted to go and represent us. My message to them is that, as the representative of the people, there is no way you can share money with every individual in this community but everybody can benefit from this
    road.”

    Sharing some of the challenges the unfinished road posed he said “People have been having serious injuries from this road because of the bad nature. Whatever the government has given to you to take to your people please do it with all amount of sincerity.”

    Relatively, Mr Joseph Itanjok also called for the contractor to return to the site, soliciting that to ensure compliance with standards, community members should be part of the contractors’ team.

    He said “From the look of things, we need a real hand that will assist us to make sure the road is awarded and worked according to standard. We beg the people handling this project to see how they can facilitate the project to completion.”

    Mr Itanjok revealed “Now we use our manpower to see how we can fix it to a manageable state, without using our manpower we wouldn’t have the possibility of moving the way we do.

    “From the look of things, in one way or the other they embezzled the money. When they are sending contractors the CSO should come from the community so that they will insist on standards but when there is nobody from the community they will do what they like.”

    Government Should Not Be Praised For Road Construction – Ukeme

    The Cross River State Coordinator of We The People, Ukeme-Obong Ekong berated the procuring entity for failing to deliver on the project. She noted that the government does not need praise when they do their job because it is their social contract with the people.

    Her words “When government do roads it's not something anybody should clap for any government. This is the responsibility of every government, what they signed in their social contract, this is the right of the people to have access to good motorable roads so that they can have access to market for their products. It is giving your citizens an enabling environment they need, to enable them to go about their day-to-day activities.”

    She called on citizens to be more conscious about government projects around them. “There is no point for the government to come up with policies it cannot keep. Citizens need to understand that when these contracts are awarded they should be in the know.”

    Ukeme-Obong urged the government at all levels to ensure they adhere to the provisions of the procurement law.

    NDDC, CRBDA, And Facilitator Can’t Explain

    An FOI request dated 24th of March 2024 asking for details of the contracts was made by TheInvestigator to the Managing Directors of Niger Delta Development Commission and Cross River Basin Development Authority, Dr Samuel Ogbuku and Engr. Bassey Nkposong respectively.

    They did not respond within 7 working days after receipt of the request as required by the FOI Act.

    NDDC’s contact number available on its website, +(012) 345 6789 was called severally but could not receive calls. Another request was made through the website contact form. Still, TheInvestigator has yet to get a response from NDDC regarding why they awarded the contract in procurement violation and why the project was abandoned.

    The Spokesperson for the Cross River Basin Development Authority, Dr Jackson John was contacted over his official line 08185461116 by TheInvestigator on Friday, 29th March 2024, he gave this reporter an appointment for Tuesday, 2nd April 2024, where he asked for a fresh copy of the FOI requesting for information about the contract.

    Between Friday 29th March to 9th May 2024, the Spokesperson for the Cross River Basin Development Authority and TheInvestigator spoke on eight (8) different occasions, and the FOI is yet to be responded to.

    The facilitator of the second phase of the project, Rt. Hon. Daniel Asuquo, until 2023 represented the Akamkpa/Biase Federal constituency in the House of Representatives. He was mailed on 7th April 2024, to provide details of the contract and answers to why it stalled, but it went unanswered.

    WhatsApp messages were also sent and delivered, but TheInvestigator received no response. He was called over 5 times and didn’t take or return the
    calls.

    WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW

    TheInvestigator produced this story through its Environmental and Accountability Reporting  (EAR) project with support from CITAD and the MacArthur Foundation.

  • GADA partners the media, seeks ways to push narrative towards reducing GBV in C’River, South South

    GADA partners the media, seeks ways to push narrative towards reducing GBV in C’River, South South

    By Kelvin Obambon

    Despite efforts by individuals, governments and civil society organizations to end Gender Based Violence (GBV) in the society, the despicable phenomenon still rear its ugly head, thereby raising concern among stakeholders on how best to effectively tackle the menace.

    It is in the light of this that a non-governmental organization, Gender And Development Action (GADA) is seeking partnership with the media, often regarded as the fourth estate of the realm, in pushing narratives that could eventually lead to the reduction of GBV incidents in Cross River and the south south region of Nigeria.

    Globally, the UN Women estimated that 736 million women—almost one in three—have been subjected to physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence, non-partner sexual violence, or both at least once in their life (30 per cent of women aged 15 and older). This figure does not include sexual harassment.

    The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), reported that violence and harmful practices against women and girls happen every day in Nigeria, and most of the time they are not reported. Data from the Nigerian Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) 2018 found that 9 percent of women aged 15 to 49 had suffered sexual assault at least once in their lifetime and 31% had experienced physical violence.

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    As per record from the United Nations Population Fund’s Reproductive Health and Family Planning Unit, Cross River State has one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in the South South region, accounting for about 42%; and this can be attributed to Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV).

    Considering the foregoing, GADA, at the weekend, held a roundtable discussion with representatives of both mainstream and online media outfits in Calabar and proposed a one-year partnership plan, suggesting timeline for reducing GBV and thus exploring new ways in confronting the hydra-headed monster.

    The partnership which will make for consistent media based engagement of GBV issues, hinges on a statewide reportage that will expose the enormity of GBV, especially in rural areas where access to vital information poses significant challenge to the fight against GBV.

    Participants at the roundtable discussion linked the inability to effectively address GBV to non enforcement of the VAPP Law in Cross River, the weakness in security architecture and the absence of referral institutions. Consequent upon this, they however called for ongoing linkages with government and security agencies to build stronger coordinating mechanisms for addressing GBV.

    Also, the National Orientation Agency (NOA), traditional and religious institutions were identified as key entry points which need to be explored and build upon as anti GBV agencies. These institutions will work in sync with a media hub that will be set up to generate, share, analyze, update and act upon critical GBV related information.

    Furthermore, concern was also raised about the intersectoral nature of GBV and its underlying and predisposing triggers such as corruption, poverty, greed, substance abuse, alcohol, cultism and a host of others. In view of this, the participants agreed to seek an all encompassing approach towards addressing GBV and its related consequences in Cross River State.

  • Contractor Pockets N113 Million After Constructing 1.4 km of 17 km Road in Cross River

    By Godwin Otang

    The seventeen (17) kilometers Okuni/Nsofang Road that leads to Nsofang, a community in Etung Local Government Area of central Cross River State, has been funded three times by the federal government. Yet, it is still in very bad shape.

    Commuters that use the road are constantly exposed to grave dangers due to its impassibility despite gulping over N113 million.

    The Nsofang/Okuni Road starts from Okuni in Ikom and terminates at Ekang in the Akamkpa Local Government Area. It links Okuni, Okokoma, Agbor-etai, and Nsofang communities to Akamkpa Local Government Area. It is also referred to as Okuni/Okoroba/Ekang Road. However, the seventeen-kilometre Okuni/Nsofang axis of the road contracted to Ghost Zee Limited is the stretch from Okuni to Nsofang axis only.

    The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is the implementing agency while Ghost Zee Limited is the contractor. The first funds released for the project was N99.6 million while the second was N7.9 million, as well as N6.3 million in the third tranche.

    According to the project specification as awarded by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, funding was approved for 17 17-kilometer stretch, but the contractor indicated 9 kilometers for execution on their signpost.

    Meanwhile, members of the Nsofang community where the road actually leads, says the contractor worked on only 1.4 kilometers of the entire stretch of the road and that the job was poorly done.

    The road was graded, but asphalting was done haphazardly and without a stone base. Members of the community who spoke to CrossRiverWatch said the job was done at just a 1.4-kilometer stretch and that the contractor at some point complained that there were no funds to continue the project.

    “They worked on some bad spots on the road only, and left the rest,” said Mr. Emmanuel Ichor, a youth from the community. “They were asked to work on the whole stretch of the road, but they abandoned some parts.”

    Community representative, Ogar Emumu, who was assigned by the community to work directly with the contractor confirmed that only 1.4 kilometers of the road were fixed.

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    “They worked some parts of the road around the Abijang community,” Emumu said. “But even the spots they worked were not solid, it wasn’t too good; I asked the contractor if the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development did not include the pouring of the stone base on the road,  because even the area they poured asphalt on was broken.  The road did not solidify and did not last. Later, another contractor was supposed to come, but when I called him, he said there was no money, and that he couldn’t use his money to come down.”

    He added: “All I know is the contractor worked on just 1.4 kilometers, but there was no stone base. There is no other work done on the road. All I know is 1.4 kilometers and nothing more.”

    The Okuni, Okokoma, Agbor-etai, Abijang, and Nsofang communities who are all beneficiaries of the Okuni/Nsofang road are agrarian; these communities produce cocoa, banana, plantain, oil palm, and cassava traders, in large-quality. The bad state of the road has made it very difficult for these farm produce to sell well. Traders who patronize these farmers have also found it difficult to get access to the communities.

    Patrick Manyor, who supplies bread from Okuni to Nsofang, shares his experience. “You can see that the road is in a sorry state,” he said. Adding: “I am appealing because this road is too bad as you can see; the government should repair this road for us. I pass here every day. I saw some people in 2021 working here but the work they did was not good enough. Potholes and erosion are eating up the road.  Sometimes we take back our goods halfway because of the road, we can not access the communities. It’s hindering business.”

    A farmer from Abijang Community, Edim Nsor has the same thing to say: “They cleared the road up to Nsofang, then were asphalting, but it was done in no particular order, not too long after they left. They did a poor job here.”

    “This is the heart of the tropical rainforest, and anything agriculture thrives here. This is a virgin land; but the challenge is the road, which if we can get this community will be the food basket of Cross River State. The road is our challenge, if you can follow it to a logical conclusion, it will save us a great deal. If it had rained today, you wouldn’t have passed.

    A top management staff of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, who pleaded anonymity revealed that the Ministry has never made any budget to fund the Okuni/Nsofang road project. The staff claimed to about any funding for the project. They added that the earth road and asphalting work was a constituency project funded by the then Senator representing Cross River Central, Sandy Onor.

    “That road is a constituency project facilitated by Senator Sandy Onor. After that year, the next year, he came again and upgraded it by asphalting 1.4 kilometers of the road. The asphalting was to capture a particularly bad spot on the road. Is not that the Ministry awarded it directly,” he said.

    “The community also helped to destroy the road because while the contractor was working on the road, trucks loaded with timber were driving past the asphalt work, to the extent it resulted in a serious problem between the contractor and the truck drivers. You know, these constituency projects pass through ministries for supervision and guidance. The ministry has never funded any award of contracts on that road.”

    After several efforts to reach the contractor Ghost Zee Limited on the project without any result, the Instagram account of the Company’s director, Kenneth Zotaobi Okafor was contacted. In his response, Okafor noted that the company did not have any 17km road contract in Cross River but did not give further clarifications.

    “I don’t have any 17 km Road in Cross River,” he said.

    There Should Be A Probe

    Meanwhile, the Country Director of Citizens Solution Network, Mr. Richard Inoyo in his reaction called for concerted efforts to get the Okuni/ Nsofang road in good shape.

    “First, the mere fact that over 113 million has been disbursed to Ghost Zee Limited, shows failure on the part of the contractor, and is a clear case of corruption and social injustice to the people of Okuni and Nsofang communities,” he said.

    “The way to go is to write to the ministry to look into the issues, and that less than 2 kilometers have been done.  The contractor should attend to questions asked by the people of Okuni/Nsofang.

    “There is a need to involve the Nigerian Police in this issue, the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)  should look into the issue.  The federal ministry should ensure that, when money is released for projects, the projects for which the money is meant for are done.”

    This investigation was produced with support from Civic Media Lab.