The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) was established in the third quarter of the Year 2000, under the Act No.6 of the National Assembly which provides for the repeal of the defunct Oil Mineral Producing Areas Commission Decree 1998. This bold move was geared towards a re-organised management structure for an effective Commission by the Federal Government, in favour of the oil-producing areas of Nigeria, otherwise referred to as the ‘Niger Delta’ region.
The agitation for resource control by the Niger Delta region, which has resulted in the 13 percent derivation fund, paid directly to the Niger Delta states, is obviously not commensurate to tackle the ecological challenges and environmental degradation which is the Siamese twin of oil exploration. The NDDC was, therefore, envisioned to stand in the gap, as a direct presence of the Federal Government in the region.
After 19 years of its establishment, it is worrisome that the vision of the founding fathers has remained far-fetched and the commission has become a prisoner of sorts to vested interests. The annual budget of the NDDC, which runs into billions of naira, has not impacted on the lives of the people of the region. It turns out that a few people have become billionaires by constantly calling the shots in the Commission. Nobody dares ask. You can only wonder how the NDDC awards contracts for the supply of desks and chairs to schools in the region to the same contractor at over N3bn annually. Actually, these contracts never get executed. For some reason, the contractor delivers a couple of desks and chairs to his own warehouse and uses same to service similar contracts from state governments in the region.
The rot in the commission is so deep that, in spite of billions of naira allocated to meaningful projects, only activities like ‘training’, ‘de-silting’, ‘solar power’ and ‘workshop’ get quick attention and gulp huge sums of money – like the N6.4 billion that generated controversy sometime ago. The Interim Management Committee (IMC) of the NDDC reportedly received a request for payment of some phantom skills’ acquisition programme to the tune of N3.842bn, representing about 60 per cent of the total sum of N6.404bn. The refusal of the IMC to honour such spurious request, it is believed, is partly the reason for the numerous petitions and ‘sudden’ probe.
President Mohammadu Buhari chose to re-jig the commission after several scandals and petitions bothering on fraud, but decided that it will be worthwhile to know the history of funding of the commission, so as to chart a course for its future. This resulted in the forensic audit of the commission’s 19-year existence (including the first 4 years of the Buhari administration).
No sooner had the audit began than fireworks rented the air, in the guise of petitions. A barrage of petitions has inundated the Presidency, all in an attempt to stop the audit.
When it seemed like the petition wouldn’t yield the desired result, the sponsors of the ‘petitioners’ resorted to using the National Assembly.
It may sound funny, but it is too much of a coincidence that the National Assembly wants to probe the Prof. Kemebradikumo Daniel Pondei-led IMC charged by the president to run the affairs of the commission during the period of the audit? One would have expected that any lapses stemming from the audit would be addressed upon completion of the audit. However, the haste to initiate an audit of the supervisors of the audit smells like a well-conceived attempt at distraction.
It appears that the bold move by the Minister for Niger Delta Affairs, Sen. Godswill Akpabio, to usher in a new lease of life at the Harold Dappa Biriye building by redeploying some of the old hands there, represents threat of extinction to those who have, over the years, made brisk business with those contacts. The uproar that trailed the transfer is not ordinary.
Akpabio quickly cancelled the consultancy contracts for the collection of statutory payments of 3 per cent of the annual budget of oil companies in the region. These contracts handled by Candour Capital Limited and Starline were huge conduits for siphoning billions of naira later paid to these contractors as their ‘commission’. The companies are believed to be owned by former and serving legislators, politicians, albeit through fronts. The cancellation of these contracts certainly unsettled the real owners of the companies; thus, the move to probe the IMC while its audit is ongoing.
Apart from these consultancy contracts, most of these legislators, especially those heading the various committees on NDDC and Niger Delta, allegedly have several contracts to their names, most of which are fully paid for but never executed.
Again, it is worrisome that, after 19 years, the NDDC is unable to complete its headquarters. The commission has remained a tenant at the Harold Dappa Biriye House, where the rent is whopping N300m annually, even when evidence shows that the building was a donation by the Rivers State Government under Dr Peter Odili. It is up to the forensic auditors to ascertain who fraudulently collects this money. This amount, ordinarily, should be a reason to hasten the completion of the headquarters, to stop the bleeding of scarce resources, but how can that be when there are people gladly fishing in troubled waters?
This is the situation in most state offices of the NDDC. The Imo State office, for example, has not seen any activity in years. It was abandoned on the first floor. Who knows if checks may reveal that provision is made in the annual budget of the commission for this project?
This piece should not be misconstrued as an attempt to shield the IMC from probe. No! The IMC is peopled by equally falling humans, who must, by nature, have their flaws. It therefore means that they’re not fool-proof. But it is only reasonable to allow them complete the very daunting task of a holistic audit of the commission, after which their own tenure will be scrutinised. This will ensure that there is no compromise and that the very wonderful idea of a forensic audit is not botched.
So, who is afraid of the probe?
Is it the IMC that has spent only 6 months in office? What harm would have been done in 6 months that ‘urgently’ needs to be addressed, abandoning the forensic audit of 19 years?
Is it possible that the 6-month old IMC has seen more funds, in a COVID-19 era of crashed oil prices, than the last 19 years, some of which were part of the oil boom?
President Muhammadu Buhari must not allow himself to be misled into endorsing such an attempt at undermining his good intentions to sanitize the commission, and by implication, the region.
Francis Udoka Ndimkoha, who wrote in from Owerri, is the publicity secretary of the Citizens Quest For Truth Initiative
