CSOs urges Buhari to discard screened NDDC Board-nominees

Adodo flanked by leaders of other CSOs

Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have urged President Muhammadu Buhari to discard the recently screened Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Board nominees to allow for unfettered forensic audit of the commission by the Interim Management Committee (IMC).

The call was made on Thursday in Abuja following controversies that have trailed the nomination of the already screened NDDC board members.

Mr Solomon Adodo, Convener, Guardians of Democracy and Development (GODD) who briefed newsmen on behalf other CSOs said that the dissolution of the new board would enable the IMC concentrate on its assignment.

The CSOs also called for the resignation of Sen. Peter Nwaoboshi as Senate Committee Chairman on NDDC to pave way for genuine auditing of the commission.

“We are here to cry out against the serial gang rape of our commonwealth and crude deprivations of the Niger Delta people orchestrated by a handful of fiendish self-serving elites in the region.

“It is no strange fact that in the quest for rapid infrastructural development of the Niger Delta Region to assuage the adverse effects of petroleum exploration and douse rising youth agitation, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) was established in 2000.

“However, since the establishment of the commission only very little has been achieved in the direction of its mandate and in the past few years, the commission was converted to a cash cow for a few unpatriotic elites of the region.

“This unpatriotic act is at the detriment of the collective interest of the people of the Niger Delta region; thus, the good intentions of the government were deliberately sabotaged and truncated by some selfish individuals.

“It is on this note that we herein fervidly convey our total gratitude to President Muhammadu Buhari for directing a thorough forensic audit of the financial accruals and expenditure of the NDDC since inception.

“This is about the biggest singular blow being dealt the monster of corruption by the current government on account of the fact that trillions of naira have been misappropriated or stolen from the NDDC,” Adodo said.

According to Adodo, the step taken by the Minister of Niger Delta, Sen. Godswill Akpabio in using an interim management committee to carry out the forensic audit of NDDC should be commended by Nigerians.

He added: “The concerted efforts of looters and culprits to frustrate the Minister and the Interim Management Committee must be met with stiff resistance by all Nigerians of goodwill.”