N/Delta govs absent as Buhari commissions NDDC building

All the six state governors from Niger Delta were absent yesterday when President Muhammadu Buhari commissioned the multibillion naira headquarters building of the Niger Delta Development Commission in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

Buhari commissioned the project virtually, 25 years after the groundbreaking ceremony by the defunct Oil Mineral Producing Area Development Commission.

Governors from the region had on Tuesday urged Buhari to put the NDDC's money to escrow account until a substantive board of the commission was inaugurated, arguing that lack of a substantive board was hampering operations of the NDDC.

Buhari said: “In 2015, as part of our administration’s cardinal objectives to kill corruption, some critical reforms were embarked upon, part of which was a holistic reform of the NDDC for greater service delivery for the people of the region.

“To achieve this, I reassigned the supervision of the NDDC to the Hon. Minister of Niger Delta Affairs for administrative efficiency. Second, was the appointment of Forensic

Auditors to review the operations of the Commission from inception to 2019 and to ensure that the appropriations made to the NDDC are commensurate with what is on the ground.”

Buhari urged the management to commit the amounts used for renting to more rewarding benefits.

Akpabio warned that the persistent fights and petitions among leaders in the region must be shelved for development.