GOODWILL MESSAGE BY GOVERNOR HOPE UZODIMMA OF IMO STATE, ON BEHALF OF THE NIGER DELTA GOVERNORS, AT THE COMMISSIONING OF NEW NDDC HEADQUARTERS IN PORTHARCOURT ON THURSDAY MARCH 11, 2021.
PROTOCOLS
May I most humbly salute my brother governors from the Niger Delta, who I have been nominated to speak on their behalf. On this note I wish to express my sincere gratitude to President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR and the federal government for the realization of the headquarters of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). It took so long to come to fruition, almost two decades after the Commission came into being on June 05, 2000.
The credit must go to President Muhammadu Buhari who in his usual result oriented manner has made this abandoned project a reality. With the commissioning today the NDDC will cease to waste a staggering N200 Million to N300 Million annually in payment of rent. That money would now be channelled to other productive ventures.
We all here are aware of why NDDC was born. It was a direct response of the federal government to the agitation of the oil producing communities and states for the establishment of an interventionist agency that will address the degradation in the areas as well as tackle the Infrastructural deficit prevalent therein. Because some stakeholders felt that the states with the 13 percent derivation fund may not adequately take care of the needs of the oil-bearing communities, NDDC was well received by the people.
Unfortunately, after two decades of its existence with an estimated allocation of N946.91 Billion in 18 years, NDDC
may find it difficult to convince many Nigerians especially those from the South-East and South-South states that it has justified its creation.
However, nobody can write off NDDC as a total failure all these years.
The commission has done its best in the prevailing circumstances. But, majority of the people feel that the agency has fallen short of expectations. The financial scandal that rocked NDDC not too long ago blighted whatever impact it had made in the past.
That is why I wholeheartedly commend President Muhammadu Buhari for setting up a forensic audit to look through the books of NDDC. I also welcome the setting up of an interim administration to manage the affairs of the Commission, pending the conclusion of the forensic audit.
With the Commission’s new headquarters coming on stream today, NDDC is now expected to turn a new leaf in attitude, performance and general operations. It must uphold those lofty aims that necessitated its establishment. It must return hope and confidence to the oil-bearing communities that it is ready and capable to address their needs and fears. On that note, the nine Governors are solidly behind the federal government’s efforts to reposition the NDDC to make it responsive to the yearnings and aspirations of our people.
Permit me therefore to add that to achieve this may require a little tinkering with the NDDC Act. It is my well-informed view that to address the kind of contract scandal that rocked NDDC in the past, and the concomitant allegations of corruption that followed, there is need for more involvement of the people in the affairs of the commission. In this regard the people should make inputs into the NDCC budget in accord with their expectations and needs, through town hallmeetings.
Thereafter, the NDDC should be mandated to adopt such inputs in its budget. The Amended Act should make it mandatory for the commission to execute all the projects coming from the people of the oil-bearing communities. The communities shall also be empowered by law to monitor contracts awarded for projects in their communities and to certify their satisfactory execution before final payments are made.
I believe that this will greatly reduce sharp practices in the execution of NDDC contracts and will reduce corruption as well. In essence, the suggested amendment, which I call NDDC Indigenous Peoples Involvement Amendment Act, is aimed at ensuring the participation of end-users of the commission’s fund in the contract protocol, to checkmate corrupt practices. I believe that this will go some distance in sanitizing the NDDC.
Let me use this opportunity to charge the interim administration of NDDC to be vigilant and not allow any gap in the award and executions of contracts. Above all they must ensure that all their policies and programmes add real value to the well being of the Niger Delta people for whom the commission was set up in the first place.
Once again I congratulate President Muhammadu Buhari, the federal government and the Niger Delta Development Commission on the commissioning of a befitting headquarters.
Thank you all and God bless
Sen. Hope Uzodimma
Governor
