The Federal Government will investigate all contracts executed by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) since its inception, the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has said.
He said the government will set up an audit body that will undertake the task.
Osinbajo therefore ordered the Federal Government’s contractors, especially those of the NDDC, to return to their sites because the audit body which will soon be constituted would assess them and their work.
The Acting President explained that the panel will look into all the contract awards and monies spent on the NDDC’s projects with a view to bringing the overall spending before the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for necessary action.
He stated this at a stakeholders’ meeting held at the Dr. Samuel Ogbemudia College in Benin City on Monday, as part of his fact-finding tour of Edo State and the oil-rich Niger Delta zone.
Osinbajo admitted that oil-producing communities have been neglected due to the “apparent insensitivity, stealing spree and corrupt activities of leaders and politicians entrusted with positions of trust.”
On the protests during the visit, Osinbajo said that the Federal Government’s plan was to ensure the team visits all the oil-producing communities but for time constraint due to the closure of Abuja Airport, more arrangements would be made for a repeat visit.
He pointed out that the story of devastation remains the same across the country as farmers and fishing communities daily miss their means of livelihood while many were deprived in the process.
The Acting President promised a holistic partnership between the Federal Government, states and local governments, oil firms and the civil society groups towards the development of the oil communities and to treat them as special development.
He said the “elite everywhere, and it is not just in the oil-producing areas, have very frequently deprived the people of the opportunity to enjoy the fruit of the land.”
“I have read out and I have listened to several of the complaints in several areas…I can tell you precisely how much had been voted for several of our communities and there is no sign of development in those areas. I can tell you how many of these projects are supposed to have been completed and when you look into some books, they said they had been completed but they have not been completed. They have not even been done; many have not even been started.
That is the story, not just in the oil-producing communities of Edo State, but everywhere,” Osinbajo lamented.
“We are committed to every one of the things that we said we want to do; it does not make sense for leadership to look away from the plight of the people, especially in the oil-producing areas. This is the source of the wealth of the nation and not to ignore the people, even if it is for a while; the time will come when you can no longer ignore them.
So, there is no question at all that we are committed to doing what we said we would do and that is a pledge coming directly from President Muhammad Buhari himself,” Osinbajo stated.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, said that the NDDC will work with the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs to ensure that there is no duplication of projects.
Source – The Authority
