Disquiet in South-South over NDDC audit report

Godswill Akpabio

The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Audit Report is already raising dust across the Southsouth even before the full recommendations of the committee are made public.

Stakeholders are particularly displeased with the suggestion by the committee that membership of the NDDC board should be trimmed and made part time.

The report was received from Niger Delta Affairs Godswill Akpabio on Thursday by Justice Minister and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, on behalf of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) Worldwide asked Buhari to immediately sack Akpabio, who it claimed, manipulated the audit process by deploying delay tactics, selfish politics and maneuvering to maintain his stranglehold on NDDC against the collective interest of the region.

The President of IYC, Peter Igbifa, said sacking Akpabio would pave the way for the inauguration of the NDDC board now that the forensic audit report has been submitted to the government.

Igbifa alleged that Akpabio was not ready to relinquish his hold on the NDDC.

He appealed to the Presidency to approach with caution some of the recommendations contained in the forensic audit report.

He said: “We were told that Akpabio ensured that selfish recommendations were smuggled into the report. If these recommendations are implemented, they will deny states adequate representation on the board and give Akpabio more time to continue running the NDDC with a sole administrator.

“For instance, we learnt that there are recommendations for a part-time board and reduction in the number of the board members. These suggestions are not feasible because they are designed to extend the sole administrative regime in NDDC. They require amendments of the Act establishing the NDDC and this will take at least six months to achieve.

“Besides, how can you think of reducing the board members?. Which states are you going to exclude from the board? Or do you think IOCs should not be part of the board? These are obviously selfish recommendations and we are calling on the Presidency to be careful to avoid promoting one man’s selfish tendencies ahead of the collective interest and development of the Niger Delta.