NDPHC replies TheCable: We sent N480m clubhouse contract for review of cost and scope

The Niger Delta Power Holding Company Limited (NDPHC) says it is yet to approve the contract for the construction of a N480m clubhouse at the Alaoji Power Generation Company.

Reacting to a report by TheCable on the rash of contract approvals by the tenders board at its 52nd meeting in February 2023, Adesanya Adejokun, the company’s technical adviser on media, said some of the items on civil works were “returned for review of scope and cost”, although he listed only the clubhouse.

The tenders board is chaired by Chiedu Ugbo (pictured), the managing director, and has the executive directors as members.

Members of the board of directors include six governors — one per geopolitical zone — and ministers of finance, justice, petroleum resources (state), and power, and is chaired by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo.

In the report, TheCable had said there are no suggestions of impropriety despite the timing of the award which is coming in the dying days of the Muhammadu Buhari administration.

Some of the big-sum construction contracts considered and approved by the board, as seen by TheCable, are: completion of a canteen for N69 million, 14 three-bedroom bungalows for N93 million each, 10 semi-detached two-bedroom bungalows for N56.6 million each, restaurant building for N162 million, perimeter fence for N532 million, another perimeter fence for N403 million, and “soft landscaping” and “hard landscaping” in an estate for N917 million.

THE FULL TEXT OF THE LETTER

RE: CABLE NEWS PUBLICATION TITLED: “EXCLUSIVE: NDPHC TO BUILD N480M CLUBHOUSE AS BOARD APPROVES LAST MINUTE N6BN CONTRACTS

The attention of the management of Niger Delta Power Holding Company Limited has been drawn to your publication dated April 4, 2023, with the title “Exclusive: NDPHC to build N480m clubhouse as board approves last minute N6bn contracts,” essentially stating that the Board of Niger Delta Power Holding Company Limited (“NDPHC”) has approved the award of contracts worth over N6Billion in the dying days of the Muhammadu Buhari administration. Upon reading the article, we have found several false statements and misrepresentations about our company, both in content and form. The article has caused significant harm to the company’s reputation and has the propensity to impugn on the character of the eminent individuals who constitute our Board of Directors and Management.

Regarding the story published on your website on April 4, 2023, with the title under reference, it is concerning to note that you published the entire memoranda/agenda of the company’s Tenders Board’s meeting, as if all the line items were approved as presented. More worrisome is that your organization, without observing any iota of due diligence, ran with the story.

For your information NDPHC is a law abiding organisation with high regard for strict compliance with due process. Our Tenders Board only approves procurement of goods and services that have undergone all stipulated processes and statutory requirements of the Procurement Act of 2007.

Most of the procurement items on the agenda you reported, which formed bulk of the cost in that agenda, particularly the civil projects were not approved but returned for review of scope and cost. For clarity, the Tenders Board did not approve any club house in the sum of N480 million As reported or at all.

The innuendo of “last minute” is presumptuous (with due respect) for a medium that proclaims, “news and views unlimited.” We expected that given the reputation of The Cable, there should be more regard for balancing or caution.

The address and phone numbers of NDPHC are always available in public space, and your reporters could have made even the slightest efforts to clarify before rushing to publish misinformation. What is more? the assertion that “the Board of Niger Delta Power Holding Company Limited (“NDPHC” )..” is not only misleading but clearly prejudicial, given that the body under consideration in this instance is the Tender’s Board of the company and not the Board of Directors as may be inferred from your article.

It is worth noting that NDPHC is not an ad hoc organization, as stated in your publication. NDPHC is a limited liability company with a perpetual succession. It is owned by the three tiers of government, with tenured management and a board. What could then lead to such haste in awarding the contracts as suggested in your report? At the Tender’s Board meeting held on February 23, 2023, on the agenda was a backlog of pending transactions requiring urgent and immediate attention particularly spare parts and maintenance of the power plants that generate and supply electricity to the national grid.

We note that as one of the critical newspapers, The Cable always runs with stories on the epileptic electricity supply in the country. Should operations in furtherance of the company’s mandate be halted just because elections have been held, and the current administration is in its twilight months?

The second item on the Code of Ethics for Nigerian Journalists, as published by the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), speaks to the primacy of accuracy and fairness in reporting. The code states that the ultimate objective of good journalism is to provide factual, accurate, balanced, and fair reporting, which is the basis for earning public trust and confidence. Journalists are expected to refrain from publishing inaccurate and misleading information, and if such information is inadvertently published, prompt correction should be made. Additionally, journalists must uphold the right of reply as a cardinal rule of practice, and in the course of their duties, strive to separate facts from conjecture and comment.

Regrettably, it has been observed that The Cable has consistently ignored this universal principle in reporting on the activities of the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (“NDPHC”). It is thus reasonable to question whether The Cable was established specifically to harass the company. If The Cable had taken the time to exercise due care in discharging its duty to the public in this regard and other previous instances, it would not have published what Professor Wole Soyinka famously described as “faction” in the guise of truth. Faction is the art of spicing a bit of fact with fiction and serving it as truth.

We, therefore, demand a full retraction of the article from your media outlet and a corrigendum issued forthwith. The retraction should be published in the same media platform and in the same prominence as the original article. We request that the retraction includes a formal apology and correction of the inaccurate information contained in the original article. We would also like to request that you remove any links or references to the original article from any other platforms, including social media.

Our expectation is that our wise counsel will prevail in this regard.

Adesanya Adejokun
Technical Adviser, Media, NDPHC