The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, said corruption
and political interference have disrupted the original purpose of
setting up the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
Akpabio, who spoke on Saturday in an interview programme with the
Nigeria Television Authority (NTA), said he was sure that those who
founded the NDDC would be disappointed with what has become of the
commission.
The NDDC was set up in 2000 by the administration of President
Olusegun Obasanjo to fast-track development in the oil-rich Niger
Delta region of Nigeria.
Nineteen years later, the region still remains backwards in terms of
infrastructure and standard of living, despite the huge amount of
money made from oil-exploitation in the area.
Akpabio said he was not proud, personally, of the commission’s
scorecard, and that as a supervising minister he was determined to get
the place to work for the good of the people.
The minister said the NDDC has been noted for substandard and
abandoned projects.
“We currently have about 12,000 abandoned projects across the nine
states of the Niger Delta. If those things were completed, you can
imagine that the area would have been turned into an Eldorado,” he
said.
Akpabio, a former senator and governor of Akwa Ibom State, spoke on
how corruption and political interference have bogged down the NDDC.
“Even the idea of giving out a job to somebody who does not have the
requisite skills is corruption on its own. The idea of bloating the
contract is also corruption. Even collecting money and abandoning the
site is also corruption.
“We have also had a lot of political interference, people have not
allowed NDDC to work as it ought to, people coming with ideas not to
move the region forward but to move their pockets forward. It has
always been so.”
He said the situation of things in the NDDC justifies President
Muhammadu Buhari’s recent order for a forensic audit of the agency.
The minister vowed to change the fortunes of the NDDC and the region.
“Even from the time my name was announced by Mr President, chiefs from
Rivers State and different areas, even in Ondo, were jubilating
because they believe that change has come to the Niger Delta region.
“I believe that my appointment is as a result of the pain and the
agony Mr President felt in terms of not seeing things on the ground.
“I don’t like people to look at my lips, I’ll like them to look at my
records. I am also from the Niger Delta region, and I had the
opportunity of being a governor for eight years, and I did my best.
Some of the roads I did 11 years ago are still functional till today,
no potholes on them.”
He said the FG has already terminated certain contracts they felt
would lead to wastages in the commission.
“Almost 23 years after they started the headquarters of the NDDC by
OMPADEC in 1996, NDDC is still paying rent. As at the last count, they
are paying N300 million a year for the headquarters building in Port
Harcourt and the rent may likely increase.
“I have given my words to Mr President that within the next six to
eight months he will commission the 13-storey headquarters of the
NDDC,” Akpabio said.
