Probe NDDC, Rights Coalition Urges Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari has been urged to probe the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) since its creation 16 years ago by the government of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
In a statement issued by the Nigerian Human Rights Community (NHRC), a coalition of 135 civil society groups across Nigeria, the group said the probe was necessary to recover billions of funds allegedly siphoned by successive leadership of the commission.
The group also expressed sup- port for a campaign to ensure equity by appointing an indigene of Ondo State to manage the affairs of the commission but added that such a person must be prepared to probe the NDDC with the aim of recovering public funds believed to have been looted through the commission in the past 16 years.
“The NDDC is the richest agency ever set up by the federal government. Over N800 billion has been pumped into the institution since its creation 16 years ago. We are convinced that probing of the NDDC will reveal a lot of scam”, the NHRC said in the statement signed by its Southsouth Regional coordinator, Werinipre Buokobiri Noel and its National Secretary, Mr. Sola Ademuwagun. The group said the federal government has the ability to recover billions of naira tied to corruption in the NDDC, insisting that the NDDC became a tool for political patronage of the ousted Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 16-year period.
The NHRC cautioned President Buhari against appointing politicians to manage the affairs of the commission, adding that people with political ambition that have managed the commission in the past end up working solely for parochial political interests instead of serving the people of the Niger Delta.
Also, the Oodua Nationalist Coalition (ONAC) urged President Buhari to stick to appointing an indigene of Ondo State as the next Managing Director of the NDDC. According to the coalition, the choice is necessary for the NDDC to break from its ugly past when armed groups had a strong stake in the commission through officials who placated them with the commission’s funds.