NDDC signed MoU for feasibility study not construction – Spokesperson

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NDDC signed MoU for feasibility study not construction – Spokesperson

The Niger Delta Development Commission has reacted to the statement credited to its chairman of its Governing Board, Lauretta Onochie, saying it signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the feasibility and viability study of the project and not the actual engineering and construction work.

A statement by Onochie on Friday described said the MoU with Atlanta Global Resources Inc for the construction of rail project across the Niger Delta from Lagos to Calabar, was done “without her knowledge and without the authorisation nor consent of the Board.”

However, a separate statement signed by the Director, Corporate Affairs, NDDC, Ibitoye Abosede, on Saturday, said the MoU was truly signed at a Public Private Partnerships summit in Lagos on Tuesday but not for the construction work.

The statement partly read, “At the Public-Private Partnership Summit which we organised in Lagos on Tuesday, April 25, 2023, we signed a Memorandum of Understanding with a United States-based firm, Atlanta Global Resources Inc., AGRI, to build a railway network that will connect the nine states of the Niger Delta region.

“We have been inundated with enquiries over what is ordinarily one of the preliminary steps necessary for the actualisation of a partnership arrangement with the private sector. All we signed at the PPP Summit was a basic MoU to commence the preliminary processes of feasibility and viability of the rail project. It did not include any agreement on details.

“It is only after the preliminary studies that the finance appraisals will be done and then the civil engineering procurements and the locomotive hardware will be considered.”

Ibitoye explained that the foundational process of the MoU signing might have been misconstrued by some persons to mean that the NDDC had signed the Engineering, Procurement and Construction contract.

“We expect that there will be challenges, especially at this initial stage, but that will not discourage us in any way. Understandably, going public to celebrate our little success is attracting bigger investors and interests. Out of ten, one or two might be successful to the benefit of the region.”