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Tag: NDDC

  • Forensic Audit: All those involved in squandering NDDC funds must cough out every kobo – Buhari vows

    Forensic Audit: All those involved in squandering NDDC funds must cough out every kobo – Buhari vows

    …says we’ll prosecute them all

    Disturbed by the manner the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC was ran aground, President Muhammadu Buhari has vowed that every kobo stolen would be recovered.

    Buhari revealed this in Abuja while speaking at the virtual commissioning of the NDDC Prototype Hostel at the University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom.

    He said “every kobo that was recoverable”, while those found culpable would be made to face the long arm of the law.

    The president lamented that the development fund of the entire region was squandered by a few Nigerians turning the majority into spaces.

    “The Niger Delta Development Commission needs to demonstrate that it can achieve the objectives it was conceived for and make its impact felt all over the Niger Delta Region. The lives of the people of the Niger Delta could be so much better, if the funding received by this commission since its inception, in billions of naira over the last 20 years, have been judiciously deployed in service of the people.

    “The serial abuse, lack of delivery and what had become an entrenched institutional decay, was the reason why I called for the forensic audit. Therefore, going forward we shall ensure every recoverable kobo, is recovered for use in service of the people of this region and those found culpable shall face the Law.

    “Consequently, I want to use the opportunity of this commissioning to direct all statutory contributors to the NDDC to remit all outstanding funds to the Commission, and to ensure this is done transparently and according to laid down procedure and process,” he said.

    Buhari, in a statement issued by his spokesman, Femi Adesina, directed that all abandoned projects that directly impact the livelihood of the people should be revived and completed.

    The President said the contract for the building of 1,050 capacity hostel for male and female students was awarded in 2004, and like many others, it was abandoned.

    Buhari said across many public universities and institutions of higher learning children face accommodation challenges, while private investors were taking advantage of the gap to provide accommodation, unfortunately tasking the resources of parents and guardians.

    “Many of them are located far away from school premises and come with their own peculiar challenges. It is good that such an infrastructure gap is being addressed, by providing accommodation for students that would be affordable, well built, and in a secure environment,’’ he said.

    The President explained that the Vice- President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, on his behalf, commissioned the Special Protections Unit Base 6 Barracks in Omagwa, Rivers State, which was built and donated by NDDC to the Nigeria Police Force.

    Sen. Godswill Akpabio said the completion of the NDDC headquarters complex and other projects clearly showed the President’s commitment to improving the livelihood of people in the Niger Delta.

  • Forensic audit: Buhari talks tough, says NDDC looters will vomit stolen funds, be prosecuted

    Forensic audit: Buhari talks tough, says NDDC looters will vomit stolen funds, be prosecuted

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday said his administration is reviewing the concluded forensic audit of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) with a view to recovering every kobo that is recoverable.

    The President had ordered a forensic audit of the NDDC in October 2019 to probe alleged financial misappropriation.

    Speaking in Abuja at the virtual commissioning of the NDDC Prototype Hostel at the University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom, Buhari pledged to prosecute those found culpable in accordance with the law.

    According to the President, it was regrettable that the special development fund of the entire region was squandered by a few for more than 20 years, leaving many in penury.

    “The serial abuse, lack of delivery and what had become an entrenched institutional decay was the reason why I called for the forensic audit,” the President was quoted as saying in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina.

    “Therefore, going forward we shall ensure every recoverable kobo, is recovered for use in service of the people of this region and those found culpable shall face the Law.

    “Consequently, I want to use the opportunity of this commissioning to direct all statutory contributors to the NDDC to remit all outstanding funds to the Commission, and to ensure this is done transparently and according to laid down procedure and process.

    “The Niger Delta Development Commission needs to demonstrate that it can achieve the objectives it was conceived for and make its impact felt all over the Niger Delta Region. The lives of the people of the Niger Delta could be so much better, if the funding received by this commission since its inception, in billions of naira over the last 20 years, has been judiciously deployed in service of the people.”

    President Buhari directed that all abandoned projects that directly impact the livelihood of the people should be revived and completed.

    This is even as he noted that the contract for the building of 1,050 capacity hostel for male and female students was awarded in 2004, and like many others, it was abandoned.

    He added, “When I directed the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs to institute a forensic audit of the Commission, after many representations by major stakeholders in the Niger Delta, I had also directed that all viable projects which had been abandoned, but which would impact positively on the lives and livelihoods of the people, be immediately revived and completed.”

    “This prototype university hostel consists of 1,050-bed spaces, 525 each for males and females, and is furnished to meet the needs of a university student. The complex also boasts of significant hard and soft infrastructure to ensure its sustainability and durability.

    “The completion of this structure is equally in recognition of the importance government attaches to providing quality housing and improved education for all Nigerians.”

  • Ex-NDDC Director denies ownership of N1.8bn properties court ordered to be forfeit to FG

    Ex-NDDC Director denies ownership of N1.8bn properties court ordered to be forfeit to FG

    A former Executive Director of Projects of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mr Tuoyo Omatsuli has denied ownership of the N1.8bn properties which the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, has ordered to be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.

    Omatsuli, who was reacting to a judgement of a three-man panel of the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, which on Wednesday, affirmed the final forfeiture of properties, stressed that it’s malicious to be linked to the said properties which its owners were already challenging in court.

    In a statement on Friday, the former NDDC director of projects, who claimed he had no investment in the real estate sector, added that reports linking him with the seized properties were fabricated and untrue.

    He maintained that he had earlier filed and sworn to an affidavit that he was not the owner of the forfeited properties situated in Lagos.

    Omatsuli expressed surprise why he was being linked to the properties when Westfield Energy Resources Ltd and Francis Momoh were already in court separately claiming ownership of the controversial properties in court with EFCC.

    Recall that Justice Chuka Obiozor of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, had, on Monday, December 10, 2018, in a case brought before it by EFCC, ordered the final forfeiture of the properties alleged to be owned by Francis Momoh.

    Momoh, who was not satisfied with the order of the lower court, approached the appellate court seeking to set aside the order of the court while contending that the said properties rightfully belonged to him.

    But in a judgment read by Justice Daniel Kalio, the appellate court held that Momoh did not place any material before the court “to enable it to disturb the findings of the lower court” that the said properties were his.

    The properties ordered to be forfeited include Block 117, Plot 4, Lekki Peninsula Scheme, TPAO 992, Ikate Ancient City, Eti-Osa L.G.A, Lagos, measuring 1804.089Sqm and Plots 1-18, Block 43, TPAO 992, Ikate Ancient City, Lekki Peninsula, Eti-Osa, Lagos, measuring 10,000Sqm.

    Others are Plot 1b, Northern Business District, Lekki Peninsula Scheme 1, measuring 1000Sqm and Plot 1; Block 25, Lekki Peninsula Residential Scheme 1, Eti-Osa L.G.A, measuring 2989.10Sqm, to the Federal Government.

    Omatsuli, according to the statement, noted that he was surprised to read on various news platforms reports linking him with the owner of the properties.

    He also denied receiving kickbacks from contractors while serving as director of projects of the Niger Delta interventionist agency – NDDC.

    While urging the public to disregard the said reports, Omatsuli stated that he has directed his lawyers to thoroughly study the reports wrongfully linking him with the said properties as owner.

    “For the umpteenth time, let me unequivocally state that I am not the owner of the various properties which the Court of Appeal on Wednesday ordered their final forfeiture to the Federal Government. I have no interest in the real estate industry. Linking me with the properties is malicious.

    “Prior to the judgement of the Federal High Court in Lagos, I had before the same court filled and sworn to an affidavit that the said properties do not belong to me. It will do the general public good to know that Westfield Energy Resources Ltd and Francis Momoh are in court laying claim to the said properties. I’m not a party to the suit.

    “My record as NDDC’s director of project is there for anyone to judge. I performed my job with utmost honesty and sincerity. There was no time during my stay I engaged in fraudulent activities against the oath of office sworn to.

    “While I have directed my lawyers to carefully study the situation, I urge the general public to discountenance reports that the properties are owned by me. For the sake of emphasis, I have no link with the properties which the court has ordered to be forfeited to the Federal Government”, the statement read.

  • Why NDDC is now on life support system – Akpabio

    Why NDDC is now on life support system – Akpabio

    Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio has said the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) is now placed on a life support system.

    He was referring to the huge indebtedness of oil exploration companies to the intervention agency.

    According to him, with $5.6 billion and N649 billion debts in the hands of oil firms, the Commission was struggling to pay salaries.

    Akpabio spoke while chatting with reporters shortly after hosting Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN), Tijani Muhammad-Bande in his Abuja office.

    He, however, disclosed that the Federal Government had already set up a committee headed by the minister of Finance to recover those monies.

    Akpabio said: “As I speak now, the federal government has set up a committee headed by the minister of Finance to recover monies that were owed to the NDDC, and at the last count, about $5.6 billion and about N649 billion are monies owed to the NDDC by oil companies.

    ”So the NDDC itself is on life support because what they get on a monthly basis is just enough to pay their salaries and maintain their offices but people are not aware.”

    He told his guest of a plan by President Muhammadu Buhari to inaugurate a 1,050-bed hostel in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State by December 30.

    The minister also hint that the President would is also inaugurate another 132kv substation in Ondo State.

    The substation will supply power to communities that have been in darkness for 14 years in five local government areas.

    He said: “On the 30th of this month, the President will commission one out of numerous hostels that we are building through the NDDC and donated to the Nigerian students, one of them is a 1,050 bed hostel out of which 50 units will be for students living with disabilities.

    “That has been completed with 24,000 gallons of water per day, two standby 1,200kva generating sets, and 5000 vehicular space for parking and amazing for both boys and girls that has been completed.

    “So, on 30th of this month we will be at the University of Uyo for the commissioning of the project by Mr. President.

    “Immediately after that, by January, we should be going to Ondo to commission a 132kva substation that will supply power to about five local government areas in the state, and unfortunately, that five local government areas have been in darkness for 14 years.”

    The minister further stated that many projects have been completed in the Niger Delta region while many are still on-going, such as the East West Road that is expected to be completed by the end of next year.

    Akpabio said: “We have completed many projects also, the East-West road is on-going with about 41 bridges and we have moved it from 76 per cent complete that we met on ground to over 82 per cent as I speak now, and I believe that sections 1-4 which is a distance of 338km will be commissioned by Mr. President by the end of next year.

    ”So, a lot of changes are taking place in the region outside human capital development, we are also involved in skills acquisition, we have built skills acquisition centres in all the nine states of the Niger Delta, and many of them have been completed.”

    He sought collaboration with the UN on the areas of youth development, environment sustainability and many others.

    Muhmmad-Bande commended the minister for the development and peace experienced in the Niger Delta.

  • Court upholds final forfeiture of ex-NDDC director’s N1.8bn properties to FG

    Court upholds final forfeiture of ex-NDDC director’s N1.8bn properties to FG

    A three-man panel of the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, on Wednesday, December 15, 2021, dismissed the application filed by one Francis Momoh and affirmed the final forfeiture of properties worth N1.8bn recovered from a former Executive Director, Projects, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Tuoyo Omatsuli, to the Federal Government.

    Justice Chuka Obiozor of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, had, on Monday, December 10, 2018, ordered the final forfeiture of the properties which include Block 117, Plot 4, Lekki Peninsula Scheme, TPAO 992, Ikate Ancient City, Eti-Osa L.G.A, Lagos, measuring 1804.089Sqm and Plots 1-18, Block 43, TPAO 992, Ikate Ancient City, Lekki Peninsula, Eti-Osa, Lagos, measuring 10,000Sqm.

    Others are Plot 1b, Northern Business District, Lekki Peninsula Scheme 1, measuring 1000Sqm and Plot 1; Block 25, Lekki Peninsula Residential Scheme 1, Eti-Osa L.G.A, measuring 2989.10Sqm, to the Federal Government.

    Dissatisfied with the Order, Momoh had approached the appellate court seeking to set aside the order of the court.

    But in a judgment read by Justice Daniel Kalio, the appellate court held that Momoh did not place any material before the court “to enable it to disturb the findings of the lower court”.

    The appellate court also held that Momoh’s appeal lacked merit and was accordingly dismissed.

    “The judgment of the lower court is affirmed,” it further held.

    Counsel to the EFCC, Ekene Iheanacho, while moving ex parte application for the interim forfeiture of the properties had referred to paragraph four of the affidavit, detailing how a contractor with the NDDC, Starline Consultancy Services Limited, was paid the sum of N10, 218, 019, 060.59) (Ten Billion, Two Hundred and Eighteen Million, Nineteen Thousand and Sixty Naira) as consultancy fee for levies collected from oil-producing companies in the Niger Delta region.

    It was further stated that out of the money paid to Starline, a sum of N3, 645, 000. 00 (Three Billion, Six Hundred, and Forty-Five Thousand Naira) was paid as a kickback to Omatsuli through a company named Building Associates Limited.

    “Some of the funds were used by Building Associates to buy properties in the name of a company, Don Parker Properties Limited, where Omatsuli had majority shareholding,” Iheanacho had further told the court.

    Iheanacho had also told the court that Momoh, whom he described as the majority shareholder in Building Associates Limited, was introduced as a shareholder in Don Parker Properties Limited so as to disguise the nature of the crime.

    After hearing the submissions, Justice Obiozor, had granted all the reliefs sought by the applicant and ordered the interim forfeiture of the properties to the Federal Government.

    The Judge had further directed the Commission to publish the Order in any national newspaper within 14 days, notifying the respondents or anyone interested in the properties to appear before the court and show cause why the properties should not be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.

    The applicant, in compliance with the court’s order, had published the interim forfeiture order in The Nation Newspaper of May 26, 2018. However, the respondents had, on October 1, 2018, opposed the application, claiming ownership of the properties.

    Delivering his judgment, Justice Obiozor, had held that the properties were acquired through proceeds from kickbacks received by Building Associate Limited operated by Momoh on behalf of Tuoyo; and ruled that the properties be finally forfeited to the Federal Government.

  • NDDC: Bury your heads in shame for calling Akpabio a Messiah – former Arewa youth leader tells Niger Delta youths

    NDDC: Bury your heads in shame for calling Akpabio a Messiah – former Arewa youth leader tells Niger Delta youths

    …says you are traders not true Niger Deltans

    A former leader of Arewa youths, Musa Saidu said Niger Delta youths calling Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio a Messiah should bury their heads in shame.

    Saidu who was also an aide to Late sage Chief Harold Biriye described the youths under the aegis of Niger Delta Progressives Movement as “bunch of traders and not true Niger Deltans”.

    He said “there’s urgent need to inaugurate the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, saying the delay was generating tension in the region.

    Saidu who is the leader of Arewa in the South also lashed at some youths under the aegis of Niger Delta Progressives Movement, NDPM, who poured encomiums on the Minister of Niger Delta, Senator Godswill Akpabio for launching a Strategic Implementation Work Plan for his Ministry, dismissing them as political traders.

    He said it was unfortunate that some youths would come out at this time to shower praises on the Minister at a time the region was condemning his delay in constituting aboard for the NDDC.

    “I am not sure they are Niger Delta youths. At a time the region is bitter over delay in constituting aboard for the NDDC some youths could come out to shower praises. This is wrong. What we expect now is for all Niger Deltans and youths inclusive to be focused on agitating for a board for the commission and fixing the East-West road. “, he said.

    “When these are done, achieved then you can call anyone a Messiah. But for now, these youths that came up with the statement under the name Niger Delta Progressives Movement, NDPM, should bury their heads in shame. “, he said.

    He said he had called for the sack of the Minister over the delay in inaugurating aboard for the commission and the deplorable state of the East-West road, adding that he had not changed his mind.

    Alhaji Saidu said the Niger Delta is very dear to him because he had been actively involved in driving matters of development in the region, adding that he moved a motion for the north to support the creation of the NDDC at a gathering of prominent northerners at the Arewa House when he was national youth President of Arewa Youth Forum.

    He explained that” as an aide to the late Harold Dappa Biriye, a Frontline leader of the Niger Delta, he accompanied the late sage to almost all meetings on matters of development of the region.

    “And at meetings in the north Chief Biriye will ask me to speak first on matters of the region on many occasions before he would wrap up. So you know and see my passion for the region”, he said.

    Alhaji Saidu further called for the implementation of recommendations of the Niger Delta Environmental Survey and several other recommendations on Niger Delta, stressing that sweeping them under the carpet was not a good one for any serious government.
    “It is high time federal government visited recommendations on redressing challenges in the Niger Delta. There are several of them.

    “There are the recommendations of the Niger Delta Environmental Survey and many others. They should give them attention so the area can enjoy development “, he said.

  • Rivers women barricade NDDC, demand reconstitution of board, release of forensic report

    Rivers women barricade NDDC, demand reconstitution of board, release of forensic report

    Disappointed over the deliberate refusal by Federal Government to reconstitute the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC board, some women from Niger Delta on Tuesday shut down the main entrance of Niger Delta Development Commission in protest over the delay in the release of the report of the forensic audit of the commission as well as the constitution of the substantive board.

    The aggrieved women sealed off the main entrance to the commission with their placards preventing access into the premises.

    The presence of security agencies however could not deter the women from carrying on with their protest.
    One of the leaders of the protesters Adienbo Odighonin, the Coordinator of the Wailing Women of Niger Delta said the protest was in expression of the grievances against the “sole administrator-ship” of the NDDC.

    Odighonin also expressed concerns that they (women) have not been carried along in the scheme of things.

    She said “We are here tell Akpabio, Malami and Buhari to constitute the board, to bring to public the outcome of the forensic audit report. To tell them that when constituting the board women should be properly constituted into the system”.

    “We are here to tell them that this illegal sole administrator should be dissolved”.
    We promised Niger Delta that we are going to bring out a naked women protest, this is just the beginning. Women will come here lie down and sleep and tell them that the board must be constituted”.

    After a passionate appeal by the NDDC security operatives, the women submitted their protest letter before vacating the premises.

  • New terms of reference for NDDC coming soon – Minister

    New terms of reference for NDDC coming soon – Minister

    Niger Delta Affairs Minister, Godswill Akpabio, has assured of a reformed Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) with new terms of reference would emerge as soon as President Muhamamadu Buhari gets the summary of the forensic audit report.

    He said the contentious board of the commission would also be unveiled after the report is submitted to the President.

    Akpabio gave the assurance when members of the Niger Delta Ethnic Nationalities Youth Leaders Council (NDENYLC), paid him a visit in his office in Abuja, Thursday.

    The minister who commended the coming together of the different ethnic nationalities in the region, noted that “this would not only afford the people of the region the opportunity to discuss emerging issues, but also enable them to take a stand on the way forward, in order to find solution to the problems of the region.”

    He explained that the Covid-19 pandemic has affected developments in Nigeria, while prompting President Muhammadu Buhari to initiate reforms that would affect the region positively. He added that, the government had commenced the cleaning up of polluted areas in Ogoniland and had taken steps to see that projects are completed and commissioned “while the incoming board would be encouraged to complete some of the abandoned 14,000 projects discovered through the forensic audit.”

    Speaking further, Akpabio said refocusing of the NDDC would help the incoming board to work hard in developing the infrastructural needs of the people that would lead to investment and assist the region in terms of empowering and developing the entrepreneurship skills of the youths, so that they could be more focused.

    According to him, ”at this time when insecurity seems to be the order of the day, the Niger Delta region has remained the safest place. This shows that the youths have decided to embrace peace and the reason for this is that, the present administration has continued with the amnesty programme. Youths are also involved in the development of modular refineries under the Local Content Act, skill acquisition centers have also been completed by the ministry which when put to use will help in empowering the youths of the region.

    “President Muhammadu administration has initiated various programmes to assuage and ensure that the youths have reliable source of livelihood. The Ministry is also discussing with various funding agencies to ensure that Section I-IV of the East-West road which has been under construction since 2006 is completed and commissioned by 2022.”

    The group which was led by the President-General, Comrade Terry Obieh passed vote of confidence on President Muhammadu Buhari and the Minister of MNDA, Sen. Akpabio, for their achievements and development of the Niger Delta region.

    According to the group leader, “the forum represents all registered Ethnic Nationalities in the Niger Delta region. As youths of the Niger Delta region we have decided that there will be no more divergent views and opinions concerning issues bordering on the Niger Delta region. We have decided as the umbrella organisation of all youth groups to speak with one voice. We reiterate our trust on the person of the minister as the only person who can be trusted with the commonwealth of the people of the region”.

  • S-South senators reject moves to include Lagos, Ogun, Bauchi in NDDC

    S-South senators reject moves to include Lagos, Ogun, Bauchi in NDDC

    SENATORS from the South-South geo-political zone have rejected moves by the Senate to include Lagos, Ogun, Bauchi and others that have attained the status of oil-producing states into Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC.

    The senators raised the objection during the consideration of a Bill for an Act to amend the NDDC Act sponsored by Senator Olamilekan Adeola (APC, Lagos West).

    Deputy President of the Senate, Ovie Omo- Agege (APC, Delta Central), Matthew Urhoghide (PDP, Edo South) and George Sekibo(PDP, Rivers East) lampooned the move, just as Omo-Agege described Adeola as a classic meddlesome interloper and advised him and his cohorts to intensify efforts for the creation of South West Development Commission.

    According to Omo-Agege, Urhoghide and Sekibo, NDDC was created to address the environmental degradation caused by oil exploration in the region.

    They asked Adeola to pursue the establishment of a commission to address developmental issues in the South-West instead of seeking to make Lagos and others members of NDDC.

    Despite the stiff opposition to the bill by the senators from the oil-producing region, the bill seeking for an amendment to the NDDC Act to accommodate the said states scaled second reading.

    President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, then referred the bill to Peter Nwaoboshi (APC, Delta North) for further legislative action and report back at plenary in four weeks.

    The bill, sponsored by Adeola seeks the inclusion of Lagos, Ogun, Bauchi and others that have attained the status of oil-producing states into NDDC.

    The nine states captured in the NDDC Act are Cross River, Edo, Delta, Abia, Imo, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa-Ibom and Ondo.

    In his lead debate on the general principles of the bill, Adeola noted: “Following the discovery of oil in Bauchi, Lagos and Ogun, these states have officially joined the league of oil-producing states in Nigeria following the discovery of crude oil in Alkaleri LGA, Bauchi; Badagry, Lagos, and Ipokia, Ogun State.

    “By virtue of this, the states are entitled to the 13 percent derivation that is due to oil-producing states, according to the provision of Section 162 Sub-Section 2 of the Nigerian constitution.”

    In his contribution, Urhoghide said: “I am not particularly against the sponsor of this bill. I just believe that the bill should be properly posited. Today, what each state gets from the 13 percent derivation is a function of production.

    “Today, Gombe is fast becoming a host community, Bauchi and some other states. But to say these states belong to Niger Delta is not possible.

    “If the idea is you want to share out of the 13 percent derivation, they are at will as long as they produce oil but to say they must belong to Niger Delta, it makes mockery of the idea in the creation of NDDC.”

    On his part, Omo-Agege said: “We look forward to the day when indeed all states in Nigeria will not only produce oil but produce one form of mineral resource or the other.

    “What this lead debate clearly shows is that my colleague from Lagos is a classic meddlesome interloper. The NDDC is a regional development commission. We must draw a distinction between the NDDC and the oil and mineral producing commission.”

    On his part, Sekibo said: “I congratulate these states where my friend said they have discovered oil. What I don’t know is that whether the oil is in commercial quantity and they are exploring them for sale and the money going to Nigerian coffers. That one, he has not expatiated on that one.

    “Are they exploring oil, are they refining oil in these places and has the oil caused any devastation in that environment? The purpose of the NDDC is not just because they found oil there, it is because the place has been so devastated and there is a need to see how they can remedy the place and because that place is so backward.

    “Each time there is a law to support a backward people, to support people who are suffering, Nigerians will come out after a couple of years to dampen the strength of that law.

    “There is nothing wrong that they are given their 13 per cent derivation, that is if funds from those oil are now in the US, they are exploring them, are they?”

  • NDDC: The Nation newsaper’s irresponsible journalism

    NDDC: The Nation newsaper’s irresponsible journalism

    By Ebizomor Brisibe

    Our attention has been drawn to a glaringly irresponsible, unmistakably provocative, and professionally unethical story in The Nation’s newspaper of Sunday, November 7, 2021, with a deliberately orchestrated and misleading headline entitled “FG To Merge NDDC With Niger Delta Ministry.” Nothing can be further from the truth.

    This pooh-pooh story which was written by an otherwise reputable newspaper through its reporter, Okodili Ndidi, in Abuja, chose to elevate speculative journalism to the dizzying heights of fiction and hearsay when he mendaciously quoted in the odious report that an unnamed, and obviously non-existent “official of the ministry (of Niger Delta Affairs) told The Nation that the unfolding process is largely responsible for the delay in reconstituting the NDDC board.”

    Nothing can be more irresponsible from an otherwise tested stable that readers rely on for accurate, fair, and balanced news reporting that affect the development of our country, and in this case, a volatile Niger Delta region that is at tenterhooks following the ongoing illegality in NDDC with the two-year imposition of the interim management and sole administrator contraption that is alien to the law setting up NDDC. Sadly, it is the height of irresponsibility for the newspaper to rush to the press with a fabricated report as this without an official confirmation from a named official in government.

    Also in The Nation’s vexatious report, the obviously ill-informed Okodili Ndidi, wrote that “Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) may soon be history following plans to transfer its functions to the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs.” Nothing, again, can be further from the truth. For the avoidance of doubt and proper guidance of gullible Niger Deltans and Nigerians we wish to state the facts, that NDDC is an Act of Parliament established by “Niger-Delta Development Commission (Establishment etc) Act 2000 Act No 6 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria.” Consequently, no change whatsoever, no matter how miniscule, can be effected to the manner of governing the Commission through an executive administrative fiat of the Federal Government, but only through a process of National Assembly amendment or repeal of the NDDC establishment Act.

    To be clear, NDDC, according to its establishment Act, is a Commission owned by the people of its nine constituent states and in that regard the Act provides for a Governing Board with representatives from each of the nine constituent states. It also provides for an Advisory Committee comprising the Governors of the nine constituent states. As a result it cannot be whimsically transferred to a Ministry of the Federal Government. NDDC is therefore a Commission set-up by law to cater to the peculiar needs of the Niger Delta people and majorly funded by statutory allocations meant for the constituent nine (9) Niger Delta states.

    The law is unambiguous on this because in Section 14 (1 & 2) of the NDDC Establishment Act 2000, Number 6, it categorically states thus:
    “The Commission shall establish and maintain a fund from which shall be defrayed all expenditure incurred by the Commission. (2) There shall be paid and credited to the fund established pursuant to subsection (1) of this section- (a) from the Federal Government, the equivalent of 15 percent of the total monthly statutory allocations due to member States of the Commission from the Federation Account; this being the contribution of the, Federal Government to the Commission- (b) 3 percent of the total annual budget of any oil producing company operating, on shore and off shore, in the Niger-Delta Area; including gas processing companies; (c) 50 percent of monies due to member States of the Commission from the Ecological Fund.”

    So, on what basis and backed by which law will the NDDC be forcefully merged with the Federal Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, and for the ministry to begin to appropriate funds lawfully accruable to NDDC?

    From the aforementioned, it is clearly discernible that the Nation Newspaper, through its misguided reporter, Okodili Ndidi, is working with fifth columnists to create this unnecessary subterfuge to cause disaffection in the region at a critical time that Niger Deltans are focused on, and legitimately demanding that the Federal Government should immediately inaugurate the substantive Board of NDDC, that is already long overdue, moreso following President Buhari’s promise on June 24, 2021 when he hosted the leadership of Ijaw National Congress, to inaugurate the Board of the Commission upon receipt of the report of the Commission’s forensic audit, which report he received since September 2, 2021.

    The President said: ‘‘Based on the mismanagement that had previously bedeviled the NDDC, a forensic audit was set up and the result is expected by the end of July, 2021. I want to assure you that as soon as the forensic audit report is submitted and accepted, the NDDC Board will be inaugurated.”

    At a time that the tension in the entire region is at fever pitch, when all stakeholders, men, women, youths, traditional institutions, civil society organisations, professional groups, elders, and governors, are already genuinely provoked at the ongoing delay in the inauguration of the NDDC Board, it is rather shameful that the Nation newspaper will allow its medium to be used for such mischievous and fabricated publication orchestrated by dubious characters to trigger crisis of unimaginable proportions.

    We therefore call on the Nation newspaper to further desist from this unpatriotic act, and also unequivocally demand an apology to Niger Deltans and withdraw this misleading report, failing which the newspaper shall be wholly held vicariously responsible and liable for any untoward actions that erupt in the region on account of this red herring and patently mischievous, false, and diabolical report.

    Ebizomor Brisibe, President and Edem Archibong, Secretary of Niger Delta United Congress