Buhari Inaugurates NDDC Advisory Committee

Omololu Ogunmade

President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday in Abuja disclosed how law enforcement agencies had recovered over N3.7billion and other assets worth billions of naira from contractors and former directors of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

Buhari made this disclosure while inaugurating the NDDC Advisory Committee made up of the nine governors of the Niger Delta Region as well as the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, and his counterpart in the Ministry of Environment, Mr. Mohammed Mahmoud.

The governors who represent the nine oil producing states in the committee are: Mr. Udo Emmanuel (Akwa Ibom); Dr. Ifeanyu Okowa (Delta), Mr. Nyesom Wike (Rivers); Senator Duoye Diri (Bayelsa), and Mr. Godwin Obaseki (Edo).

Others are: Prof. Benedict Ayade (Cross River); Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu Akeredou (Ondo); Mr. Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia) and Senator Hope Uzodinma (Imo).

The president said aside the N3.7 billion recovered in cash from the culprits and other assets valued at billions of naira, the enforcement agencies have also placed a seal on other assets worth over N6 billion.

“To date, the EFCC and other agencies of government have recovered over N3.7billion in cash as well as various assets worth billions of Naira from some contractors and former directors of the commission. Furthermore, I am told that government agencies have placed liens on over N6 billion of assets which are being investigated,” he said.

A statement by the president’s media adviser, Mr. Femi Adesina, said Buhari told members of the committee that such abuses of the past underscored the need to henceforth, carry out strict and diligent oversight of the commission’s activities.

According to the statement, Buhari tasked the committee to discharge its responsibilities with every sense of diligence and efficiency, admonishing the body to work with relevant ministries.

The president said he hoped to henceforth see a departure from the recklessness of the past in the administration of the NDDC as well as the physical output of the commission in the Niger Delta region.

He recalled the launch of

“New Vision for the Niger Delta (NEVIND)” in 2016 during the first term of his administration, with the intention of promoting sustainable peace,security,infrastructureandhuman capital development in the region through the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, NDDC and the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP).

However, the president regretted that these institutions had been unable to live up their responsibilities as a result of mismanagement, thus denying the people of the region their well deserved living standard.

“As a result, the people of the Niger Delta were left with abandoned infrastructural projects and substandard social programmes which were designed to improve their living conditions.

“It is to reverse this trend that I approved, in February 2020, the constitution of a 10-Man Presidential Monitoring Committee (PMC) as provided for in Section 21 of the NDDC Establishment Act,” he said.