From Fred Ezeh, Abuja

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Federal Government has identified the importance of community participation in the monitoring of developmental projects being executed in the Niger Delta either by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) or the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs.
Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Usani Uguru Usani, in a statement yesterday reminded contractors, particularly those with bad track records, that gone were the days when they would collect mobilisation for contract and abscond, leaving the people in abject poverty and underdevelopment.
He said: “As part of the Federal Government’s commitment to encourage public participation in the process of governance, the ministry has decided to engage locals in the status verification of all government infrastructures in the region and the purpose was to determine the state of delivery of such infrastructures and its impact on the people.”
He encouraged them to participate by taking photograph of projects of the ministry or NDDC in their domains and clearly indicate if the projects were working, moribund (no longer functioning, for those projects that were functioning before), or abandoned (for those that have never worked) and forward same to the ministry either in person, proxy or through the ministry’s social media accounts.
The minister expressed gratitude to the Federal Executive Council for approving the ministry’s Technical Audit Report, which investigated all contracts, projects and programmes embarked upon since inception in 2009 to 2015.