Buhari Orders NDDC’s Probe Over Multiple Corruption Allegation

Posted by African Examiner Featured, Latest Headlines, News Thursday, October 17th, 2019

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered a forensic audit of the operations of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) from 2001 to 2019.

The president gave the directive when he received governors of the nine oil producing states led by Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa state.

The nine oil producing states are Rivers, Bayelsa, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Delta, Edo, Abia, Imo and Ondo.

His words: “I try to follow the Act setting up these institutions, especially the NDDC. 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.

“The projects said to have been done must be verifiable. 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 president stated.

He also noted that “I am very much aware, with my experience, that projects in your area are very expensive; that is why if any job is given, we must make sure that the company is competent and has the capacity to do it well, with experienced consultants”

The president, however, added that he would wait for the report of the audit before deciding on the next line of action regarding the commission.

Governor Dickson had earlier expressed disappointment on the operations of the NDDC.

He noted that the commission’s operations had been characterised by poor choice of projects, shoddy handling, uncompleted jobs and lack of required support for the efforts of the states and local governments in its areas of coverage even as he called for the repositioning of the commission in order to achieve the objectives for which it was set up.