Niger Delta Stakeholders, Civil Societies Table Demands for Tinubu’s Administration over NDDC

…As ICPC Assures Collaboration in Tracking Project Infractions 

By Ekemini Simon

Stakeholders of the Niger Delta region and Civil Society Organisations have set an agenda for President Bola Tinubu administration on the way forward for the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

The stakeholders and civil society actors have called on President Tinubu to publish the NDDC forensic audit report, appoint into the NDDC board and management individuals who have the interest of the region at heart and also ensure transparency is ingrained in the workings of the NDDC.

This was part of the position made known at a Twitter Space conversation held on Tuesday by a civil society organisation working on resource democracy and social justice, Social Action also known as Social Development Integrated Centre with support from MacArthur Foundation.

The conversation, which  had the theme “Setting An Agenda for the NDDC under the New Administration”, had participation from stakeholders across the region, civil society organisations and the media.

According to the Executive Director of Centre for Transparency Advocacy, Faith Nwadishi, the starting point of reform for the NDDC should be the President to ensure the forensic audit report of the NDDC is published.

She said publishing the report will not only add value to the resources spent in the forensic audit but will empower citizens with the necessary tool to set up a tracker that will track the implementation of recommendations in the audit report.

Nwadishi also decried how the Commission over the years has become an institution manipulated and used for the settlement of political associates and empowerment of the elites at the expense of the people of the region whose lives have been destroyed by oil and gas exploration.

Chairman, Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA), Olanrewaju Suraju on his part noted that the underdevelopment experienced in the region is as a result of poor representation from the people who manage affairs of the NDDC and States within the region.

He said “Many representatives of the Niger Delta region are products of exclusive appointments. Their representation is not from the people. Because of where and how they emerge, these so-called representatives are not genuinely committed to the course of the region. 

“That is why Governors of this region are the richest. We get worried when some members of the civil society organisations and some citizens make a case for people who were not elected through a people oriented process. The result will be that they will not care about the plight of the people.

“We had a President of this country from Bayelsa State and a Minister of Petroleum from there too yet no good motorable road in their community there in Bayelsa. This is just a tip of the kind of people who represent this region.”

Suraju stressed that if NDDC must birth the benefits to which it was established, it was time the citizens stop being docile over happenings in the Commission and they must stop compromising general interest over collective interest.

Also speaking, a rights activist and journalist, Chido Onumah called on the new administration to ensure transparency in the activities of NDDC as the commission must be productive to the people of the region.

While pointing out that corruption thrives in opacity, Onumah called on the new administration to make the budget, contracts and reports of the commission open to the public.

Onumah who noted that the North East Development Commission established recently has recorded credible strides unlike its NDDC counterpart insisted that those found culpable in corrupt practices in the NDDC projects should be held to account thus serve as deterrent to others.

On his part, a political economy analyst and legislative scholar, Dr. Uche Igwe charged the National Assembly to be diligent in its oversight role over the NDDC and not be interested in the “NDDC cake”. 

Earlier, the Assistant Director, Public Enlightenment and Education Department of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Mrs. Ese Okwong had assured that the ICPC is determined to be more interested in how money spent by the Commission is utilised.

She said the ICPC had launched the Constituency and Executive Projects Tracking Groups ( CEPTG) to track projects not properly implemented or diverted.

Okwong charged citizens to report to ICPC infractions in projects happening around them assuring that the Commission will swing into action.