ON NDDC DRAMA OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS – THE BULK OF THE BLAME STILL GOES TO PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI
February 22, 2021 | News
According to former UK Prime Minister, David Cameron: “If the amount of money stolen from Nigeria (Specifically referring to the Niger Delta region) in the last 30 years was stolen from the UK, the UK would cease to exist.” That is a foreigner, trying to describe the magnitude of the theft of our collective national wealth by some selected few in the corridors of power.
ON NDDC DRAMA OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS – THE BULK OF THE BLAME STILL GOES TO PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI
According to former UK Prime Minister, David Cameron: “If the amount of money stolen from Nigeria (Specifically referring to the Niger Delta region) in the last 30 years was stolen from the UK, the UK would cease to exist.” That is a foreigner, trying to describe the magnitude of the theft of our collective national wealth by some selected few in the corridors of power. And in this case, via the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) that is meant to be the interventionist development body for the Niger Delta region as the area that lays the golden egg which sustains the entire Nigerian economy.
Agreed that since the creation of the NDDC in year 2000 by the Olusegun Obasanjo regime, primarily to address the developmental gaps and neglect in the Niger Delta region that have been crying of marginalization and underdevelopment, despite being the country’s economic backbone that feeds other sectors and Government activities – the Commission has sadly, been made a conduit pipe for the pilfering of public funds to enrich the private pockets of those in the corridors of power. And this started from the moment the first Managing Director of the NDDC, Mr. Godwin Omene, was deliberately removed by these corrupt politicians so that they can have their way with the Commission. However, this unhealthy situation of the politicking within, and around the NDDC, have eventually gotten out of hand with the interplay of self-driven interests, which was deliberately made worse by the President Buhari-led Federal Government. This is what has led us to where we are today.
When a President does whatever he likes, without listening to the cries and yearnings of the people he is supposed to govern, then that person is nothing but a civilian-styled-dictator who has no intention to see a particular region of the country developed as it should. These are my thoughts, and I believe the thoughts and mindset of the majority of Nigerians in the South-South region, whenever I consider the actions and dispositions of President Buhari concerning the NNDC and the Federal Ministry of the Niger Delta.
I still maintain that President Muhammadu Buhari, deliberately created the circumstances that would destroy and render the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) practically useless to the people of the Niger Delta region, especially in his second term in office.
It was just last month that Nigerians saw reports making rounds that sources within the Presidency have revealed that, in the desperation to get the Sole Administrator for the NDDC approved, Minister of the Niger Delta, Mr. Godswill Akpabio, had promised to support the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, with N25billion from the N453billion 2020 budget of the NDDC towards his 2023 governorship ambition in Kebbi State. And I reiterated the fact that these are very weighty allegations that should not be swept under the carpet. But thoroughly investigated by relevant agencies – leaving no stone unturned. And those found wanting, should be made to face the full wrath of the law, no matter who they are or what position they may occupy.
Nigerians were also witness to the ‘drama presentation’ by the former NDDC Interim Management Committee (IMC) Acting Managing Director, Daniel Pondei, during the Public Hearing by the Nigerian Senate Adhoc Committee on the Investigation of the alleged financial recklessness in the NDDC. And I noted the fact that no past and present investigations by the National Assembly and in their oversight functions, which often produces comprehensive reports and recommended action-points, that has ever seen the light of the day in holistically addressing what the said probe/investigation was meant to address in the first place. The only positive thing that we saw about the said investigations, was that it only provided some form of information about the level of atrocities committed by those being investigated and probed. But that is where it usually ends. What the Government of the day will do with that information, and how that information is used to bring about the needed changes in the system concern, is where the problem is.
We all know how President Buhari appointed the NDDC Board, and this was approved by the Senate to start work as required by the law. All of a sudden, there was a twist of events in the NDDC and President Buhari handed over the Commission to Godswill Akpabio with his antics as the person in-charge of the Ministry of the Niger Delta. The question is, if President Buhari had wanted the NDDC to function as it was established to do, he would never have appointed Akpabio to supervise the activities of the NDDC with his ministry of Niger Delta Affairs. This is because it is against the laws setting up the NDDC, and also, who does not know Akpabio’s questionable records and stewardship as a former Governor and Senator? Yet, President Buhari felt he is still the right person to oversee the affairs of the NDDC Board.
The same President Buhari set up an Interim NDDC Board to shortchanged the Board members he had appointed without any wrongdoing by the said NDDC board members, who are yet to resume work till date. Having donated the NDDC to Akpabio and his Ministry of Niger-Delta, the same President Buhari set up a supposed forensic audit to investigate the activities of the NDDC in the last decade. One begins to question why would the President, initiate a very commendable move to investigate the past activities/records of the NDDC, but only to put corrupt politicians to be in charge of the investigation. How on earth will that work and yield the desired results? Even the Panel, in the concluding part of their report, “also faulted the rationale behind the placement of the NDDC under the supervision of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs led by former Akwa Ibom State governor, Godswill Akpabio.” This is because “The NDDC by law is meant to be under the President that delegated the supervision to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF). This arrangement demonstrates the high importance and priority that all previous governments attributed to the region in view of her economic contributions to the country…”
I have consistently kicked against this development because I really do not understand why President Buhari would still allow Akpabio, despite all the allegations and atrocities hanging on his neck, to control the affairs of the NDDC? Why is Akpabio and his cohorts in the Presidency refusing to appoint a substantive Board for the NDDC, but instead, they have moved from an Interim Management Committee to a Sole Administrator that is not known by the Act establishing the NDDC? As noted by a stakeholder: “If Akpabio is honest, transparent and has no skeleton or ulterior motives, why appoint a Sole Administrator from Akwa Ibom state that is against the NDDC Act which clearly states that the Managing Director of the NDDC must come from either Delta or Bayelsa states?”
For me, President Buhari had worsened all the existing problems in the NDDC, by his actions since he came in for his Second term. We all know the NDDC already has its financial woes before this administration came on board, but President Buhari, in his second tenure, deliberately donated the NDDC to Akpabio and his 'loyal boys' who are ready to do anything, to have a field day in feasting on the funds of the commission, which are meant for uplifting the sorry-image of the Niger Delta region. Despite the number of oppositions to the said appointment of a Sole Administrator for the NDDC by stakeholders, those behind it still pulled the appointment through, granting Akpabio an unfettered hold on the NDDC. Some stakeholders have consistently contended that the decision to appoint Akwa as Sole Administrator to ‘oversee the ongoing forensic audit of the Commission to its completion’ is alien, illegal, void and seriously offends the provisions of Sections 2, 3 and 4 of the NDDC (Establishment) Act, 2000.
Zik Gbemre.
February 22, 2021
We Mobilize Others To Fight For Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes
According to former UK Prime Minister, David Cameron: “If the amount of money stolen from Nigeria (Specifically referring to the Niger Delta region) in the last 30 years was stolen from the UK, the UK would cease to exist.” That is a foreigner, trying to describe the magnitude of the theft of our collective national wealth by some selected few in the corridors of power. And in this case, via the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) that is meant to be the interventionist development body for the Niger Delta region as the area that lays the golden egg which sustains the entire Nigerian economy.
Agreed that since the creation of the NDDC in year 2000 by the Olusegun Obasanjo regime, primarily to address the developmental gaps and neglect in the Niger Delta region that have been crying of marginalization and underdevelopment, despite being the country’s economic backbone that feeds other sectors and Government activities – the Commission has sadly, been made a conduit pipe for the pilfering of public funds to enrich the private pockets of those in the corridors of power. And this started from the moment the first Managing Director of the NDDC, Mr. Godwin Omene, was deliberately removed by these corrupt politicians so that they can have their way with the Commission. However, this unhealthy situation of the politicking within, and around the NDDC, have eventually gotten out of hand with the interplay of self-driven interests, which was deliberately made worse by the President Buhari-led Federal Government. This is what has led us to where we are today.
When a President does whatever he likes, without listening to the cries and yearnings of the people he is supposed to govern, then that person is nothing but a civilian-styled-dictator who has no intention to see a particular region of the country developed as it should. These are my thoughts, and I believe the thoughts and mindset of the majority of Nigerians in the South-South region, whenever I consider the actions and dispositions of President Buhari concerning the NNDC and the Federal Ministry of the Niger Delta.
I still maintain that President Muhammadu Buhari, deliberately created the circumstances that would destroy and render the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) practically useless to the people of the Niger Delta region, especially in his second term in office.
It was just last month that Nigerians saw reports making rounds that sources within the Presidency have revealed that, in the desperation to get the Sole Administrator for the NDDC approved, Minister of the Niger Delta, Mr. Godswill Akpabio, had promised to support the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, with N25billion from the N453billion 2020 budget of the NDDC towards his 2023 governorship ambition in Kebbi State. And I reiterated the fact that these are very weighty allegations that should not be swept under the carpet. But thoroughly investigated by relevant agencies – leaving no stone unturned. And those found wanting, should be made to face the full wrath of the law, no matter who they are or what position they may occupy.
Nigerians were also witness to the ‘drama presentation’ by the former NDDC Interim Management Committee (IMC) Acting Managing Director, Daniel Pondei, during the Public Hearing by the Nigerian Senate Adhoc Committee on the Investigation of the alleged financial recklessness in the NDDC. And I noted the fact that no past and present investigations by the National Assembly and in their oversight functions, which often produces comprehensive reports and recommended action-points, that has ever seen the light of the day in holistically addressing what the said probe/investigation was meant to address in the first place. The only positive thing that we saw about the said investigations, was that it only provided some form of information about the level of atrocities committed by those being investigated and probed. But that is where it usually ends. What the Government of the day will do with that information, and how that information is used to bring about the needed changes in the system concern, is where the problem is.
We all know how President Buhari appointed the NDDC Board, and this was approved by the Senate to start work as required by the law. All of a sudden, there was a twist of events in the NDDC and President Buhari handed over the Commission to Godswill Akpabio with his antics as the person in-charge of the Ministry of the Niger Delta. The question is, if President Buhari had wanted the NDDC to function as it was established to do, he would never have appointed Akpabio to supervise the activities of the NDDC with his ministry of Niger Delta Affairs. This is because it is against the laws setting up the NDDC, and also, who does not know Akpabio’s questionable records and stewardship as a former Governor and Senator? Yet, President Buhari felt he is still the right person to oversee the affairs of the NDDC Board.
The same President Buhari set up an Interim NDDC Board to shortchanged the Board members he had appointed without any wrongdoing by the said NDDC board members, who are yet to resume work till date. Having donated the NDDC to Akpabio and his Ministry of Niger-Delta, the same President Buhari set up a supposed forensic audit to investigate the activities of the NDDC in the last decade. One begins to question why would the President, initiate a very commendable move to investigate the past activities/records of the NDDC, but only to put corrupt politicians to be in charge of the investigation. How on earth will that work and yield the desired results? Even the Panel, in the concluding part of their report, “also faulted the rationale behind the placement of the NDDC under the supervision of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs led by former Akwa Ibom State governor, Godswill Akpabio.” This is because “The NDDC by law is meant to be under the President that delegated the supervision to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF). This arrangement demonstrates the high importance and priority that all previous governments attributed to the region in view of her economic contributions to the country…”
I have consistently kicked against this development because I really do not understand why President Buhari would still allow Akpabio, despite all the allegations and atrocities hanging on his neck, to control the affairs of the NDDC? Why is Akpabio and his cohorts in the Presidency refusing to appoint a substantive Board for the NDDC, but instead, they have moved from an Interim Management Committee to a Sole Administrator that is not known by the Act establishing the NDDC? As noted by a stakeholder: “If Akpabio is honest, transparent and has no skeleton or ulterior motives, why appoint a Sole Administrator from Akwa Ibom state that is against the NDDC Act which clearly states that the Managing Director of the NDDC must come from either Delta or Bayelsa states?”
For me, President Buhari had worsened all the existing problems in the NDDC, by his actions since he came in for his Second term. We all know the NDDC already has its financial woes before this administration came on board, but President Buhari, in his second tenure, deliberately donated the NDDC to Akpabio and his 'loyal boys' who are ready to do anything, to have a field day in feasting on the funds of the commission, which are meant for uplifting the sorry-image of the Niger Delta region. Despite the number of oppositions to the said appointment of a Sole Administrator for the NDDC by stakeholders, those behind it still pulled the appointment through, granting Akpabio an unfettered hold on the NDDC. Some stakeholders have consistently contended that the decision to appoint Akwa as Sole Administrator to ‘oversee the ongoing forensic audit of the Commission to its completion’ is alien, illegal, void and seriously offends the provisions of Sections 2, 3 and 4 of the NDDC (Establishment) Act, 2000.
Zik Gbemre.
February 22, 2021
We Mobilize Others To Fight For Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes