There is uneasy calm among members of the Governing Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) with the Chairman of the Board Lauretta Onochie in open dispute with the Managing Director, Dr. Samuel Ogbuku.
Political Economist NG can authoritatively reveal that the quiet storm brewing between Onochie and Ogbuku team was about who controls the finances of the commission.
NDDC insiders revealed to Political Economist reporter how Onochie had tried to hijack the finances of the commission by insisting that she becomes a signatory to the NDDC accounts.
Political Economist learnt that soon after Onochie’s appointment and inauguration of the Board, she made efforts to append her name as signatory to NDDC accounts. This was said to have been resisted by Ogbuku and some senior members of management.
Our reporter gathered that despite pleas from some members of the Board who pointed out to her that her position was not Executive Chairman hence she cannot be a signatory to any account, she insisted on forcing her way through.
This, according to insiders, led to the hostile air between the management and a section of the Board led by Onochie.
Political Economist reports that the Act setting up the NDDC did not vest Executive powers on the Chairman of the Board but on the Managing Director who is recognized by law as the chief accounting officer.
“The law vests the operational powers of the NDDC on the Managing Director who ensures the day to day running of the commission. The only thing is that the MD will seek the ratification of the Board on certain issues especially on matters of capital projects,” a source told our reporter.
The bad air between Onochie and Ogbuku reared its head recently when Onochie declared as “illegal, null and void,” a $15 billion railway line agreement signed between the commission and a United States-based company.
Ogbuku had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Atlantic Global Resources Inc, to build a railway network to connect the nine states in the region.
The two parties signed the agreement at a ceremony which was part of a one-day Public Private Partnership (PPP) Summit organised by the commission in Lagos.
The event was attended by the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Umana Umana, former Governor of Edo State Adams Oshiomhole, and other leaders from the South-south.
But reacting to the MOU barely three days later, Onochie described the agreement as dubious and illegal, saying that it was done without the knowledge of the commission’s Board.
According to her, the Act establishing the interventionist agency, empowers the chairperson of the Board to sign MoUs on behalf the agency.
“The ‘US Company’, Atlanta Global Resources Inc., has no expertise nor experience in any form of construction, let alone Railway construction. This company is a Management and Export Consulting Firm without known notable Directors.
“Thus, the signing of an MOU to the tune of $15 billion with such an organisation is not only suspect but dubious,” Onochie said.
The NDDC management however explained that it signed MoU for a preliminary process for a railway network and not award of contract.
In a statement the director of corporate communications, Ibitoye Abosede, NDDC said the MoU it signed may have been misconstrued by some persons to mean Engineering, Procurement, Construction, EPC, contract.
“What we signed on 25 April is simply the opening phase that will determine how far we will go, but definitely showcases how interested the international partners are in tapping into the Niger Delta region.
“This means that we are looking at a bright and prosperous Niger Delta from the prism of the PPP,” Mr Abosede said, adding that the model is to provide alternative sources of funding for key projects and programmes.
