The Niger Delta Development Commission has urged contractors and consultants to resolve disputes early, warning that unresolved disagreements can delay projects, increase costs and contribute to abandonment.
The Commission said conflicts over payments, project variations, designs, timelines, measurements, quality of work, access to sites and relations with host communities should be addressed before they escalate.
Executive Director for Corporate Services Ifedayo Abegunde made the call during a three-day sensitization program in Port Harcourt on conflict sensitivity and Alternative Dispute Resolution.
The program focused on the use of ADR in project execution and sustainable development across the Niger Delta.
Abegunde said NDDC projects had consequences beyond the contractual relationship between the Commission and contractors because communities depended on the roads, bridges, schools, health facilities and other infrastructure being delivered.
He warned that project disputes could therefore impose costs on communities as well as on contractors and government.
Potential consequences include delayed completion, higher project costs, strained relationships, litigation and loss of development time.
Abegunde said contractors and consultants should see themselves as first responders in conflict management.
The NDDC believes stronger ADR skills could reduce litigation and improve project completion rates.
Director of the Commission’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Department Godwin Ogedegbe said the Niger Delta’s social, economic and environmental complexities made conflict-sensitive project management particularly important.
He said development interventions could unintentionally deepen existing divisions if contractors failed to understand community dynamics.
ADR, he said, provided structured mechanisms for resolving disputes through dialogue, fairness and mutual respect rather than prolonged confrontation.
A keynote presentation by University of Ibadan peace-studies scholar Isaacs Albert similarly warned that unmanaged disputes could increase project costs, weaken quality and erode confidence in development interventions.
The Commission said integrating conflict-sensitive approaches into project execution would be critical to improving the sustainability of infrastructure and development programmes across the region.
