Rivers
Group Wants Probe Of Alleged Unaccounted NDDC Fund
The Civil Society Coalition on Audit in Nigeria (CSCAN) on Tuesday asked the Public Accounts Committees of the National Assembly and anti-corruption agencies to investigate 176 contracts awarded by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) between 2008 and 2018.
It said that N90.9 billion which was a part of the contracts’ budget had yet to be accounted for.
CSCAN comprises Paradigm Leadership Support Initiative (PLSI), BudgIT Foundation, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), Dataphyte, Step Up Nigeria, Accountability Lab, Centre for Health, Equity and Justice (CEHEJ), Basic Rights Watch, Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) and some media executives in the country
PLSI Executive Director, Olusegun Elemo; BudgIT’s Deputy Manager, Tolutope Agunloye and Country Director, Accountability Lab, Friday Odeh, spoke for the coalition during a news conference.
Elemo stated that based on data from 2008-2012 and 2013-2018 Audit Report on NDDC, it was obvious that the N90.9bn was yet to be accounted.
He added many of the projects had been physically verified while many were abandoned, some were poorly implemented and others not executed at all.
According to him, a review and analysis of available data by the coalition and ground assessment of project sites conducted revealed how wasteful and insensitive the NDDC had been managing resources belonging to Niger Delta people.
Elemo said: “We have visited many of the project sites, we have pictorial evidence, we have identified the companies involved as well as beneficial ownership details.
“All we are asking the National Assembly Public Accounts Committees, Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to do is take a professional, detailed and investigative look at this evidence and recover the funds.
“There can be no other explanation to what has happened at NDDC between 2008 and 2018 than the fact that those entrusted to manage the commonwealth of the Niger Delta people had intentionally deprived them of the much-deserved development.”
Elemo, therefore, urged the two chairmen of committees on Public Accounts in the National Assembly, Senator Matthew Urhoghide and Oluwole Oke as well as the leadership of ICPC and EFCC to ensure that justice was served to the people of Niger Delta and by extension Nigerians.
Agunloye of BudgIT noted that over N500 billion was earmarked as statutory allocation to improve the development of the region between 2008 and 2018.
He lamented that the current state of some communities in the region was not representative of the allocation.
His words: “To execute its projects and programmes, NDDC receives annual statutory allocations from the country’s federal government and an annual levy of three per cent of the total annual budget of oil companies in the country.
“It also receives grants and other forms of support from International Development Agencies.
“However, despite the expenditure of approximately $40 billion on capital projects by the NDDC since its inception, the commission has failed to realise its 15-year master plan for the rapid development of the region.”
Odeh of Accountability Lab said: “Only a modern audit law can help Nigeria effectively prevent corrupt behaviour such as seen with the NDDC in recent years”.
The Rivers State Judiciary has described as embarrassing and misleading a purported online publication by the News Week Electronic Media channel alleging that the State Chief Judge , Justice Simeon Chibuzor Amadi plans to embark on a One Year annual vacation.
The Judiciary in a statement signed by the Chief Registrar High Court Port Harcourt, DAVID IHUA-MADUENYI while dismissing the said report described it as malicious and baseless, stressing that the allegation levelled against the person and the office of the Chief Judge of Rivers state was an embodiment of falsehood.
The statement reads this “to put the records straight, the Chief Judge did not at any time announce nor intend to announce embarking on any recess or extended recess leave by whatsoever name called, as such leave is alien to the Judicial Officers Calendar of Vacations.”
The vacation calendar of Judicial Officers is of public knowledge, namely: Christmas Vacation, Easter Vacation and Annual Vacation “the statement stated.
He therefore urged members of the public and the judiciary community to disregard the misguided publication as it is targeted to causing disaffection , confusion and ill will in the State.
Maduenyi however threatened a legal action against the author of the publication, JAKE CLIFFORD and the publishers if they failed to retract the false publication immediately without hesitation.
Akujobi Amadi
Determined to sustained and promote a peaceful stability in the Niger Delta states, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has trained over 200 selected youths drawn from the nine states of the commission on the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanism (ADR)in settling conflicts and disputes in there various communities.
The one -day capacity Building workshop organised by the Department of the Dispute and Conflict Resolution, NDDC with the theme “Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Mechanism: Facilitating inclusive youth Engagement for Transformative peace “held in Port Harcourt, yesterday.
Declaring the workshop open,the NDDC managing Director and chief executive officer, Mr Samuel Ogbuku said the essence of the workshop was to build the capacity of the youths in the region on conflicts management through Alternative Dispute Resolution(ADR) mechanism which will enable them handle conflicts in there communities,noting that conflicts is part of human society and happens every day in the society.
Ogbuku who was represented on the event by the Director Research, planning and statistics,Dr Patterson OGOM, stressed that Niger Delta region is at the centre of conflict due to its dominance in oil explorations and exploitations and there is the need to acquaint the youths who are always on the front burner during agitations on a more convenient peaceful approach to go about resolving conflicts with out it snowballing to crisis.
According to him,the workshop will exposed the youths on how to manage conflicts in there areas when they arise, adding that carrying arms and destruction of national critical assests in there communities was not the best option for achieving peace when conflict arises.
Ogbuku averred that Niger Deltans are noted for settling there disputes through dialogue and that informed the choice for the ADR workshop.
” What we want to achieve in the workshop is how to resolve and manage these conflicts when they arise.How the we explore other windows of dispute resolution, negotiation, dialogue and nip them on bud before they occur.ADR is Germaine to Niger Delta region.
The NDDC MD/ CEO urged the participants to take the workshop serious so that they can take the message back to their various communities and States.
Also speaking, the Ag Director, ADR NDDC, Godwin Ayewumi Ogedegbe esq, disclosed that since the inception of the present NDDC management led by Mr Samuel Ogbuku the region has not witnessed crisis as it was in the past , adding that the commission has been proactive and preventive in conflicts management in the region.
Ogedegbe averred that the training was designed to teach the youths an alternative ways of resolving conflicts when they happen or occur rather than resorting to arms carrying and destruction of critical national assets in their domain, adding that Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) is the best way to resolving and managing crisis.
He opined that peace is critical to the commission and the region, noting that when the youths destroy the oil installations and other critical national assets in the region it will affect revenue accruing to the commission and in turns affects development in the region.
“They are going to preach the message learnt here to their fellow youths that there are other ways of resolving conflicts despite carrying arms or destroying oil facilities in there communities as such acts can’t bring peace.”he stated.
Our correspondent reports that the participants were drawn from Rivers, Delta, Akwa ibom, Edo, Cross River and Bayelsa states
Others include, Imo, Abia and Ondo states.
Akujobi Amadi