Why Niger Delta Governors Instigated Our Probe, By NDDC

It made the allegation following last
week’s order by President Muhammadu
Buhari calling for a forensic audit of the
commission from 2001 to 2019 .
“ With the amount of money that the
Federal Government has religiously
allocated to the NDDC , we will like to
see the results on the ground . Those that
are responsible for that have to explain
certain issues, ” Buhari said on Thursday
when he received a delegation of the
state executives led by the governor of
Bayelsa, Seriake Dickson.
“ The projects said to have been done
must be verifiable, ” Buhari said further ,
adding: “ You just cannot say you spent
so much billions and when the place is
visited, one cannot see the structures
that have been done . The consultants
must also prove that they are
competent .”
Also, briefing reporters after the
meeting, Dickson had said : “ We came to
have interactions with the president
and senior officials of his government
on our concerns about developments in
the Niger Delta. We also discussed fears
and what we know is going on in the
NDDC which is a critical agency .”
But the NDDC said there was more to
the meeting between the governors and
Buhari than met the eyes . Its Head
Corporate Affairs Charles Odili told The
Guardian: “ You remember that the
governors who went there (Aso Villa ),
necessitating that reaction, were from
the opposition party . And so , such
things are necessary fallouts when they
have an opportunity to meet Mr.
President.
“ They want to control the commission .
But it does not work that way . It is a
natural thing for a president to ask that
we look into the financial records of
any organisation that is under the
presidency. It is not about corruption. ”
A civil society source that has been
pushing for the investigation said the
Federal Government might deploy the
Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC ), which had been
probing the past two managements of
the NDDC .
The presidency had reportedly been
bombarded with petitions in the past
five years over allegations of
unwholesome activities at the NDDC .
Some of these include the award of
shoddy contracts and project
abandonment.
The Nsima Ekere- led management had
in 2018 cancelled over 600 contracts
valued at over N 200 billion for not
being properly awarded or because the
contractors who had already been paid
failed to show up at sites.
In 2015 , a report by the auditor - general
of the federation claimed the
commission could not account for
N183 . 7 billion between 2008 and 2012 .
The executive director of Africa
Network for Empowerment and
Economic Justice , David Ugolor,
meanwhile commended Buhari ’s
decision to probe the commission .
He however worried about the fate of
the audit , which , according to him,
could indict persons in the presidency
but yet end up in the office of the
president.
Also, the chairman of the Niger Delta
Civil Society Coalition, Anyakwee
Nsirimovu, said the group would sustain
pressure on Buhari for an overhaul of
the NDDC to achieve its mandate for oil -
producing areas.
He alleged that accountability issues
began to plague the commission shortly
after its establishment. It was common
for projects files to suddenly disappear
in a bid to cover up financial misdeeds ,
he said .
Following its retreat in Uyo , Akwa Ibom
State , at the weekend , the Pan Niger
Delta Forum (PANDEF ) also urged
Buhari to extend the audit to “ other
national interventionist organisations ”
like the Petroleum Technology
Development Fund (PTDF ).
In a statement it sent to The Guardian
yesterday , PANDEF said it welcomed the
audit, demanding : “ The names of
beneficiaries of contracts of the
commission over the period under
review should be made public . ”
The group’s 14 - point communiqué was
signed by National Chairman Idongesit
Nkanga; Deputy National Chairman ,
Chief Francis Doukpola ; and National
Publicity Secretary Mrs . Betty Igbeji ,
among others .
The statement reads in part : “ PANDEF
decries the poor state of critical
infrastructure in the Niger Delta region ,
particularly roads , and thus calls on the
Federal Government and relevant MDAs
to give immediate and urgent attention
to roads in the region . ”