No fewer than 12,000 abandoned projects of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) have been identified in the Niger Delta region, says Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio. He confirmed that upon his assumption of office, about 27 contractors had returned to site.

He attributed the new zeal in the commission to the forensic audit directed by President Muhammadu Buhari whom he described as the right person to superintend such audit given his track record of integrity. Akpabio was guest at Politics Today on Channels TV, Tuesday evening.

He clarified his earlier description of the NDDC as some people’s ATM. According to the minister and former governor of Akwa Ibom State, “some people just collect money from the commission; they have no skill, no capacity for the job but they are awarded contracts and they pocket the money and disappear. We want those money to be accounted for. There must be an end to such situation.”

Meanwhile, the Federal Government has set up an interim management committee to run the affairs of NDDC. This development was announced on Tuesday evening through a statement from the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs. The Minister inaugurated the committee on Tuesday in Abuja. The mandate of the committee is to help create an “enabling environment” for the forensic audit of the NDDC which was announced by President Muhammadu Buhari, the statement said. He explained that the new Board will not take effect until the forensic audit is concluded. The interim committee will supervise the audit.

Akpabio had earlier said that corruption and political interference have disrupted the original purpose of setting up the NDDC. He vowed to revive the commission and get it to work for the good of the Niger Delta region and the people.

“I think people were treating the place as an ATM, where you just walk in there to go and pluck money and go away, I don’t think they were looking at it as an interventionist agency,” said Mr Akpabio, a former minority leader of the Senate. The Federal Government has inaugurated a three-man Interim Management Committee to oversee the management of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). The Interim Management Committee would be in place to create the enabling environment for the upcoming forensic audit”.

The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio while performing the inauguration said President Muhammadu Buhari had approved the appointment of Dr. Gbene Joi Nunieh as the new Acting Managing Director, while Dr. Cairo Ojougboh is the Acting Executive Director, Projects and Chief Ibanga Bassey Etang is the Acting Executive Director, Finance and Administration.

Senator Akpabio inaugurated the committee in Abuja on Tuesday, October 29, 2019. According to Senator Akpabio, the Committee would be in place to create the necessary ambience for a hitch-free forensic exercise, adding that the Inauguration of the Board Members would be put on hold until the forensic exercise is completed. The Minister said that the forensic audit as ordered by President Buhari would cover 18 years of NDDCs operations between 2001- 2019. According to Akpabio, there would be ten (10) slots of auditing firms, and each State would be assigned one slot while the NDDC Headquarters slot would be the coordinating slot.

The Minister urged the Interim Committee to discharge their duties effectively and efficiently without fear or favour noting that the people of the Niger Delta region and indeed the whole country reposed confidence in them in overseeing the affairs of the Commission as an interventionist agency to work towards alleviating the plight of the people of the Niger Delta region. According to Senator Akpabio, the Acting Managing Director Dr. Mrs Enyia Akwagaga had been directed to hand over to the new Interim Committee on Wednesday 30th October, 2019 by 10.am.

In her remarks, the Interim Managing Director Dr. Joi Gbene Nunieh expressed appreciation to President Muhammadu Buhari for the opportunity given to them to serve and assured that the team would not disappoint the President, people of the Niger Delta region and indeed the whole country in carrying out their mandate.