Abandoned shoreline project: Reps to investigate NDDC 

The House of Representatives has mandated the Committee on Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to liaise with the commission to investigate alleged mismanagement and abandonment of the Amassoma Community Shoreline Protection Project in Bayelsa.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria, the resolution followed the adoption of a motion by Rep. Ambaiowei Ebikebina (PDP-Bayelsa) during plenary in Abuja on Tuesday.

The Amassoma Reclamation/Shore Protection Project was awarded by the NNDC on June 10, 2019, to IDEKI Services Ltd.

Moving the motion, Ebikebina said Amassoma in Southern Ijaw Federal Constituency of Bayelsa is one the communities that had persistently endured flooding, leading to the devastating 2022 flood in the area.

He said this sacked communities, creating a huge humanitarian crisis. The lawmaker added that the flood situation was heightened by climatic changes, making the situation increasingly unbearable.

Ebikebina said the people of Amassoma and other areas within the Southern Ijaw federal constituency were at risk of another devastating flood and displacement from their homes.

He said that only immediate action would assuage and comfort the Southern Ijaw constituents and avert traumatic experiences of the past.

Adopting the motion, the house said such a project was a critical intervention, adding that the previous companies must be held accountable for the alleged waste of public funds.

The house urged the NDDC to re-mobilise a contractor to complete the Amassoma community shoreline protection project.

The house also urged the contractor to engage competent consultants to supervise the project and ensure it was executed diligently before September.

The house mandated the NDDC to assess the project to ascertain the extent of work done by the numerous contractors since the project was first awarded.