A review of the Delta State Government’s own project-monitoring records reveals completed projects alongside others whose official deadlines have passed, projects still at zero per cent, and newer interventions whose progress is yet to match the time available — raising questions about delivery, monitoring and what citizens should expect when government takes its scorecard to the grassroots.
By Emmanuel Enebeli
When Governor Sheriff Oborevwori directed his political appointees to take the achievements of his administration’s MORE Agenda to wards and communities, he did more than ask his representatives to speak about government.
He also placed a premium on evidence.
The governor directed his Special Assistants, Senior Special Assistants and Executive Assistants to be able to explain the administration’s programmes and achievements to people at the grassroots, with emphasis on communicating government performance through verifiable facts. The directive was given at a political seminar in Asaba on September 16, 2026, as the administration begins preparing its performance narrative ahead of the 2027 elections.
That directive raises a question that cannot be answered adequately from political meetings, speeches or publicity materials.
What do the government’s own records say about projects in Ndokwa?
To answer that question, Ndokwa Reporters examined the Delta State Contract App, the government’s online project-monitoring platform designed to provide information on public projects, including their location, status, contract period, expected completion date, contractor and reported level of progress.
The findings are neither a simple story of success nor one of failure.
They reveal a more complicated picture.
There are projects recorded as completed. There are projects under construction. There are newly awarded projects whose timelines are still running. But there are also projects whose stated completion dates have passed while the official records still classify them as ongoing, as well as projects awarded months ago that the government’s platform continues to record at zero per cent.
As of September 20, 2026, the Contract App listed 430 projects across Delta State: 132 completed, 171 ongoing, 127 new projects and none on hold.
The figures are important, but they are only the beginning of the story.
The real story lies in what the individual project records reveal about Ndokwa.
The project that passed its deadline
In Ndokwa East, one of the most striking entries is the Aboh-Akarai Road with a bridge across the Okiri River.
The project is not a minor intervention.
According to the state’s own description, it involves a 10.90-kilometre road and a 100-metre bridge, alongside drainage, culverts and pavement works. The stated objective is to improve accessibility between Aboh and Akarai, facilitate the movement of people and goods and remove difficulties associated with the river crossing.
The contract was awarded on July 23, 2025, with a 12-month contract period and an expected completion date of June 23, 2026.
But on September 20, 2026, almost three months after that deadline, the government platform still classified the project as ongoing, with reported progress of just 35 per cent.
The contractor listed is Lebtech Construction Limited, while the project carries CNO reference DSPPC/CNO/1697.
That does not, by itself, establish that the project has been abandoned.
Nor does it establish why the deadline was not met.
There could be explanations: variations, unforeseen site conditions, funding or mobilisation issues, changes in scope, weather, access problems or other contractual circumstances.
But the public record examined by Ndokwa Reporters does not explain the reason for the delay.
And that is precisely where accountability reporting begins.
If a project was scheduled for completion in June and the government’s monitoring platform still showed it at 35 per cent in September, what caused the delay, has the contract been extended, and what is the revised completion date?
Those are questions that deserve answers.
A road whose clock is still running
The picture is different on the Ogbedigbo-Afor Road with a spur to the Obi Palace, also in Ndokwa East.
The project was awarded on June 10, 2026, and has a 12-month contract period, with an expected completion date of May 10, 2027.
The project covers a 1,430-metre road and a 130-metre spur to the Obi Palace. The state’s description says the scope includes earthworks, drainage, culverts, access slabs, crushed-stone base course and two layers of hot rolled asphalt.
The Contract App reports the project at 10 per cent progress. The contractor is listed as GOBAS Construction Limited and the CNO reference is DSPPC/CNO/2158.
Unlike Aboh-Akarai, there is no missed deadline here.
With almost eight months remaining on the stated contract period, a 10-per-cent progress figure cannot by itself be described as evidence of failure.
That distinction matters.
A serious investigation must not turn every low percentage into an accusation.
The appropriate question is whether the reported progress is consistent with the work programme and whether the project is progressing at a rate that can reasonably deliver the promised infrastructure by May 2027.
The state’s own monitoring platform provides the starting point.
Physical verification must provide the next.
Schools tell another part of the story
The education sector provides some of the clearest examples of the gap between a project’s contractual timeline and its reported status.
At Ogwezi Primary School, Aboh, the state lists an infrastructural development project under the Ministry of Primary Education.
It was awarded on February 13, 2026, with a 12-week contract period and an expected completion date of June 6, 2026.
Yet the government’s platform currently lists the project as ongoing at 20 per cent. The contractor is identified as Diversified Projects & Engineering Limited, with CNO reference DSPPC/CNO/2011.
Again, the issue is not simply that the project is at 20 per cent.
The bigger issue is that its stated completion date has passed. By September 20, more than three months had elapsed since the June 6 deadline. What happened? Was there a formal extension? Was the contractor still on site? Was there a variation to the original contract? Was payment delayed? Were there site-related difficulties?
The publicly available project record does not answer those questions.
At Akari-Obodo and Obetim-Uno Secondary Schools, another education project was awarded on February 5, 2026, with a 12-week contract period and an expected completion date of May 29, 2026. The Contract App reports 60 per cent progress.
The contractor is listed as Okeh-Anagba Gracious World Ltd, while the project falls under the Ministry of Secondary Education and carries CNO reference DSPPC/CNO/1853. Here again, the deadline has passed.
The reported 60 per cent completion suggests substantial work may have been undertaken, but it also leaves an important public question:
What remains to be completed, and when will the project be delivered? The distinction between “ongoing” and “completed” is not merely administrative. For pupils, teachers and parents, a classroom block at 60 per cent is still not the same thing as a functioning classroom block. Ashaka provides a contrasting picture. The investigation also found evidence of completed work.
At Ashaka Primary School, the Contract App records a project as completed at 100 per cent.
The project included construction of a three-classroom block with offices, a four-unit prototype toilet block, a gatehouse and renovation of a 278.64-metre fence facade.
It was awarded on July 14, 2025, with an expected completion date of May 29, 2026.
The government platform records it at 100 per cent, with Diversified Projects & Engineering Limited listed as the contractor.
This is significant for another reason.
The same investigation that identifies projects still awaiting completion also finds projects the government’s system records as completed.
That means the appropriate journalistic approach is not to begin with the assumption that every government project is either a success or a failure.
It is to ask, project by project:
What was contracted? What was delivered? When was it delivered? And is the official record consistent with what exists at the site? There is, however, another interesting development in Ashaka.
The Contract App also lists a new infrastructural intervention at Ogene Primary School, Ashaka, awarded on March 11, 2026, with an expected completion date of May 27, 2026.
Its reported progress is zero per cent.
Two schools in the same community therefore appear differently in the government’s records: one project is recorded as completed, while another is still recorded at zero per cent despite its stated deadline having passed. That contrast deserves closer examination.
Ndokwa West: 12 weeks, 25 per cent
In Ndokwa West, the construction of a six-classroom block with offices at Igbe Primary School, Ogume, is one of the newer projects.
The contract was awarded on August 28, 2026.
Its contract period is 12 weeks, with an expected completion date of November 13, 2026.
The government’s monitoring platform currently reports 25 per cent progress.
The contractor is Danolinkers Global Services Limited, while the project is under the Ministry of Primary Education and carries CNO reference DSPPC/CNO/2253.
In this case, the numbers need to be read in context.
As of September 20, only a few weeks had elapsed since the contract was awarded. It would therefore be premature to treat 25 per cent progress as evidence of delay. Instead, this project provides an opportunity for future monitoring. If the 12-week contract period is respected, the community should expect the project to be completed by November 13. That date should now become a measurable point for subsequent reporting. The question is no longer merely whether government announced a classroom block.
The question is whether the classroom block will be delivered within the stated period.
But another Ndokwa West school remains at zero
At Mixed Secondary School, Ugiliamai, the picture is more difficult. The project was awarded on March 11, 2026, under the Ministry of Secondary Education. Its contract period is 12 weeks and its expected completion date was May 27, 2026.
Yet the Contract App currently categorises it as a new project and reports zero per cent progress.
The contractor listed is Stanford Field Global Ventures, and the project carries CNO reference DSPPC/CNO/2055. This is one of the clearest records requiring explanation.
A project awarded in March, with a 12-week duration and a May completion date, remains on the government’s database at zero per cent in September. That does not automatically prove abandonment. But it creates a substantial accountability question:
If no work has been recorded, what happened between the award of the contract and September?
Was the contractor mobilised? Was the project site handed over? Was there a change in scope? Was the contract terminated or suspended? Has the monitoring record simply not been updated?
The distinction is crucial.
A database entry showing zero per cent may mean zero physical progress, or it may reflect an information-update problem. Without clarification from the responsible authorities or physical verification at the site, the record alone cannot establish which is the case.
That is precisely why public project-monitoring systems need regular and accurate updates.
Electricity: another deadline approaching
The issue becomes even more significant when electricity infrastructure is considered.
The Delta State Contract App lists the rehabilitation/construction of the vandalised 33KV line from Abbi through Emu-Obodeti to the Kwale 7.5MVA Injection Station as a 2026 project in Ndokwa West.
The project was awarded on July 10, 2026, for a 12-week contract period. Its expected completion date is October 2, 2026. But the reported progress is currently zero per cent.
The Ministry of Energy is listed as the responsible MDA, while Black Creek Global Resources Ltd is identified as the contractor. The project carries CNO reference DSPPC/CNO/2188.
As of September 20, that leaves only days before the official completion date. This makes the project one of the most important ones to watch. The question is straightforward:
Can a project recorded at zero per cent in September be completed by October 2?
There is insufficient information in the public record to answer that question. And that is precisely why it requires follow-up.
The project’s stated objective is itself significant. Government says the rehabilitation is intended to restore and strengthen electricity infrastructure, improve reliability and stability of supply, reduce outages and support economic activity in Ndokwa West.
For communities and businesses, those objectives are not abstract policy language.
Electricity affects shops, farms, workshops, small industries, schools, healthcare facilities and household life.
The eventual condition of the 33KV line therefore provides a useful test of whether the project moves from a contract entry on a government platform to infrastructure that residents can actually use.
Ukwuani: three schools, one contract
In Ukwuani, the Contract App identifies a single project covering three schools: Ukwata Primary School, Umukwata; Otolum Primary School, Ezionum; and Igwete Primary School, Amai.
The scope is substantial. At Ukwata, the project involves renovation of a three-classroom block without offices. At Otolum, it involves renovation of a three-classroom block with offices and toilets. At Igwete, the scope involves demolition and reconstruction of a four-classroom block with offices and toilets. The contract was awarded on August 28, 2026, with a 12-week duration and expected completion date of November 13, 2026.
The government reports 20 per cent progress.
The contractor is Besa Mercantile Company, and the project carries CNO reference DSPPC/CNO/2248.
This project illustrates another important point. A single percentage can sometimes conceal considerable variation. The government reports the project overall at 20 per cent, but the public record does not tell citizens how much work has been completed at each of the three schools.
Is Ukwata at 20 per cent? Is Otolum at 20 per cent? Is Igwete at 20 per cent? Or is one site substantially ahead of the others?
The Contract App does not appear to provide that level of breakdown in the record reviewed by Ndokwa Reporters.
For a project covering three separate locations, that information would be useful for meaningful community-level monitoring.
Another road project needs watching
The investigation also found the Uzere/Asaba-Ase road and culvert rehabilitation project, which covers Isoko South and Ndokwa East. The project includes reconstruction and rehabilitation of failed culverts, rehabilitation of failed road sections and an additional 20-metre reinforced-concrete bridge. It was awarded on July 10, 2025, with a 12-month contract period and expected completion date of June 10, 2026.
The Contract App currently records it at 55 per cent progress and lists Lebtech Construction Limited as contractor.
Once again, the completion date has passed. Once again, the official record says the project is ongoing. And once again, the available record does not explain the reason for the outstanding 45 per cent. This is becoming a pattern worthy of deeper investigation — not necessarily a pattern of misconduct, but a pattern of information gaps around project delivery.
What the numbers actually tell us
Taken together, these records reveal something important about governance reporting.
A government project cannot be properly evaluated merely by counting how many contracts have been awarded. Nor can performance be assessed simply by counting projects listed as “completed”. The more meaningful questions concern time, scope, progress, quality, utilisation and impact.
For example, the Delta Contract App currently records 132 completed projects statewide.
That is useful information. But the next question is: completed according to whom, and verified how? The platform says Ashaka Primary School is 100 per cent complete.
The platform also records the Beneku/Okpai flood and erosion control project in Ndokwa East at 100 per cent. That project involved 600 metres of flood and erosion-control works and was awarded in May 2025 with an expected completion date of August 22, 2025.
These are concrete entries.
But an investigative reporter should still ask whether the completed infrastructure exists in the form described, whether it is being used, whether it remains functional and whether the intervention has produced the intended community benefit.
Completion is a contractual milestone. Impact is a different question.
The danger of reading percentages without context There is another lesson from this investigation. A project at 10 per cent is not automatically a bad project. A project at 60 per cent is not automatically a good project. And a project at 100 per cent is not automatically a successful intervention.
A project awarded three weeks ago and showing 10 per cent may be progressing normally. A project awarded nine months ago and showing 10 per cent raises different questions. The same percentage can therefore mean entirely different things depending on the date of award, contract duration and expected completion date.
That is why Ndokwa Reporters has examined the figures alongside the dates.
The most significant red flags in the documentary review are not necessarily the lowest percentages.
They are the combinations of low progress, expired deadlines and inadequate public explanation.
By that measure, the Aboh-Akarai road, Ogwezi Primary School, Akari-Obodo/Obetim-Uno schools, Ugiliamai secondary school and the Abbi-Emu-Obodeti-Kwale 33KV project deserve particular follow-up.
That does not mean they are abandoned. It means their official records create questions that should be answered. What the Contract App gets right
It would be unfair to ignore an important development represented by the Contract App itself.
For years, one of the major difficulties in tracking public infrastructure has been the lack of accessible information about what government has contracted, where projects are located, who is executing them and when they are expected to be completed.
The Delta platform makes at least some of that information publicly accessible.
It gives projects individual records containing descriptions, locations, contract periods, progress figures, responsible ministries or agencies, contractors and expected completion dates.
It also provides a feedback mechanism through which members of the public can comment on project quality, timeline and progress, and community impact.
That is potentially valuable.
But the usefulness of such a platform ultimately depends on the quality and regularity of the information entered into it.
If a project has passed its completion date, citizens need to know why.
If work has stopped, they need to know whether it has been suspended, terminated, varied or simply delayed.
If a project is completed, citizens need reliable information that allows them to distinguish completion from mere certification.
And if the percentage shown on the platform no longer reflects conditions on the ground, the record needs to be updated.
MORE Agenda meets the test of verification
The governor’s own policy documents make transparency and responsiveness part of the MORE Agenda.
The administration defines MORE as Meaningful Development, Opportunities for All, Realistic Reforms, and Enhanced Peace and Security.
Its stated mission includes running an open and responsive government and improving infrastructure, education and healthcare.
The governor’s policy statement on “Opportunities for All” also speaks of regular stakeholder engagement and a bottom-up approach in which grassroots organisations, traditional institutions, youth organisations, professional bodies and others provide input into government policies and programmes.
That makes the present moment particularly important.
If government representatives are now going to the wards to explain the administration’s record, the communities should not be expected merely to listen.
They should be able to ask questions. They should be able to compare claims with records. And they should be able to say what they see. That is not opposition to government.
It is part of accountable governance. The four questions Ndokwa should ask
As the MORE Agenda conversation moves towards the grassroots, Ndokwa Reporters believes that every major project should be subjected to four simple questions:
What was promised? What was approved and contracted? What has actually been delivered?
What remains to be done? Those four questions can transform development reporting from political publicity into public-interest journalism.
They also provide a framework for citizens, community leaders, traditional institutions, civil society organisations and journalists to participate constructively in monitoring public projects.
For example, the Aboh-Akarai project has a clear promise: a 10.9-kilometre road and 100-metre bridge intended to improve connectivity. The official record says it is 35 per cent complete and past its original deadline.
The next stage of journalism is therefore obvious: go to Aboh and Akarai, inspect the road and bridge, speak to residents and users, establish what work has actually been done, and seek explanations from the responsible authorities and contractor.
The same applies to the Ugiliamai school.
The same applies to the Abbi-Emu-Obodeti-Kwale electricity project. The same applies to the schools in Aboh, Ogume, Umukwata, Ezionum and Amai.
What government should explain
Based strictly on the official records examined, there are several questions that the relevant ministries, the Delta State Project Monitoring authorities and contractors should be able to answer.
Why are projects such as Aboh-Akarai Road, Ogwezi Primary School, Akari-Obodo/Obetim-Uno Secondary Schools, Ugiliamai Mixed Secondary School and the Uzere/Asaba-Ase road intervention still listed as ongoing or at their recorded levels after their stated completion dates?
Have revised completion dates been approved? Have any of the contracts been varied? Have contractors been formally warned over delays? Are there certified reasons for the delays?
For the Abbi-Emu-Obodeti-Kwale 33KV project, what is the present physical status of the work, given that the Contract App records zero per cent progress and an October 2 completion date?
For completed projects such as Ashaka Primary School and the Beneku/Okpai flood-control intervention, what independent verification process was used before the projects were classified as 100 per cent complete?
And for multi-location projects such as the three-school intervention in Ukwuani, can the state provide a location-by-location breakdown of progress?
These are reasonable public-interest questions. They do not accuse any individual or contractor of wrongdoing. They seek information necessary to understand the use and delivery of public resources. The political season should not obscure the governance story
There is an unavoidable political context to the governor’s directive.
The administration is approaching the 2027 election cycle, and the governor has asked his political appointees to communicate his administration’s achievements to voters and communities. But the existence of a political context does not make every government project a political issue.
A classroom is a classroom. A bridge is a bridge. A road is a road. A power line either works or does not work. A completed health facility either serves the community or does not. The challenge is therefore to separate the political presentation of government performance from the measurable reality of government delivery.
That is where evidence becomes important.
The government’s decision to publish project information through a monitoring platform represents an opportunity that should be taken seriously. It gives citizens something against which official claims can be tested. But transparency cannot end with publication of a project name, contract date and percentage figure.
The next level is verification.
A government can announce a project. A contract can be awarded. A contractor can mobilise. A monitoring platform can record progress. But the final test is what happens in the community. Does the road become usable? Does the bridge solve the crossing problem? Does the classroom accommodate pupils? Does the electricity infrastructure improve supply? Does flood-control infrastructure protect the road and surrounding communities? Does the completed project remain functional months and years later?
Those are the questions that matter to citizens long after political seminars and campaign seasons have ended.
The governor’s directive to take the MORE Agenda to the wards therefore presents an opportunity for a different kind of political communication, one in which government representatives do not simply tell communities what has been done, but are prepared to open the records, identify what remains outstanding and listen to what residents say about projects in their communities.
For the people of Ndokwa, that distinction matters.
The official records reviewed by Ndokwa Reporters show that development activity is taking place across the three LGAs. They also show that some projects are completed, some are progressing, some are newly awarded and some require explanations about their reported status and timelines.
The evidence therefore does not support a simplistic conclusion. Instead, it points to a more important story:
Ndokwa needs not only projects, but transparent project delivery. And as the administration takes its MORE Agenda to the wards, the people should be equipped not merely with applause or criticism, but with facts. The government’s own records provide a starting point.
The next step is for government to explain the gaps, for contractors to account for timelines, for communities to report what they see, and for journalists to independently verify the claims. That is how development becomes measurable. That is how public communication becomes accountable. And that is how “verifiable facts” become more than a phrase in a political seminar.
Ndokwa Reporters’ review of the Delta State Contract App is based on the information publicly displayed on the platform as of September 20, 2026. The reported project status and percentages are government-monitoring records and have not been treated as independent physical verification. Where this investigation identifies questions about delays or progress, those are questions arising from the official records and should not be interpreted as findings of wrongdoing. Further field reporting and responses from relevant authorities and contractors are required before such conclusions can be drawn.
