*Call for publication of forensic audit report
*Urge NASS not to entertain new board list
Following the submission of the forensic audit report of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to the presidency, leaders and stakeholders in the Niger Delta region have renewed calls for the urgent inauguration of the already-screened and confirmed board of the NDDC to enable the interventionist agency commence serious infrastructural development in the region.
After several postponements and delays, the forensic audit of the NDDC ordered by President Muhammadu Buhari in October 2019, was reportedly submitted to the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, lask week, for onward transmission to the Presidency.
While briefing newsmen on the submission of the final report of forensic audit that took nearly two years to complete, Akpabio assured that President Buhari will act swiftly on the report.
The New Diplomat however reports that after the audit report was submitted, leaders, stakeholders and ex-militant leaders in the Niger Delta region, have called on the President to inaugurate the screened and confirmed board of the Commission which was put on hold pending the completion of the forensic audit.
Speaking on behalf of Pan-Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, the spokesman group, Ken Robinson, advised that the submission and study of the audit report should not constitute another reason for another unnecessary delay of the inauguration of the board already screened and confirmed by the Senate.
“We might have a situation where they say that they would study it (the report), perhaps set up another committee to study it, that’s the way they may go about it just to delay it and perpetuate the interim leadership. These will be to the detriment of the people of the Niger Delta”, the group said.
Other Niger Delta groups calling on the President to make public the detail of the report of the forensic audit and order the inauguration of the board of the Commission include Ikwerre People’s Congress (IPC) Worldwide, Itsekiri Liberation Group (ILG), Ndokwa Neku Union ( NNU), Urhobo Progressive Union ( UPU), Movement for the Survival of Ijaw Ethnic Nationality in the Niger Delta (MOSIEND), IJaw National Congress, INC and Isoko Development Union, IDU.
Lamenting the failure of the Commission to execute its mandate of developing the Niger Delta region which has been attributed to the delay of the forensic audit, the Patron of the Isoko Development Union, IDU, Chief Idu Amadhe, noted that for more than two years, the development of the region has been stalled.
In the same vein, ex-militant leader, Eshanekpe Israel, has also called on President Buhari, to as a matter of urgency, inaugurate the Pius Odubu and Bernard Okumagba-led board of the NDDC in order to avert the fuming anger that could culminate into violence in the region.
The ex-militant leader (a.k.a Akpodoro), who is the Coordinator of the National Coalition of Niger Delta Ex-Agitators, NCNDE-A, recalled the lingering delay in inaugurating the screened board of the Commission, noting that the time is now for President Buhari to do the needful, having received the audit report which he ordered in October, 2019.
He appealed to the President to inaugurate the Board in order to calm down rising tension, adding that any further delay may create bad blood and uncertainties in the region.
The ex-militant leader assured that “when inaugurated, the Odubu/Okumagba-led NDDC Board, will hit the ground running, adding that it will certainly break off from the past mal-administration and mismanagement of resources and introduce an all-inclusive administration that will cater for the overall development of the entire region.”
Meanwhile, a civil society group, Action Against Public Wastage and Accountability, AAPWA, has called on the National Assembly to resist any attempt by the presidency to push into it a fresh list of nominees for screening, adding that Senate cannot afford to waste the precious time of the Red chamber and spend its legislative time and public resources to screen another list of nominees for the board of the Commission just as it stressed that repeating such a statutory assignment will amount to a waste of public resources.
In a statement signed by Barr. Jabin Frenediko, national coordinator and Alh. Mai Dauda Dogo, national secretary, the group noted that the National Assembly is the second arm of government whose duties, among others, is the screening and confirmation of nominated individuals submitted by the presidency.
The group further noted that any attempt by the Senate to waste the time and resources of the green chamber to screen another set of board nominees will not only demean the status of the upper chamber, but will also create a bad precedence in its legislative duties.
“We have been inundated with calls by some ill-intentioned individuals for the presidency to come up with a new list of nominees as board members of the NDDC even when they are clearly aware that the screened and confirmed 14-man list nominees submitted by the President to the Senate in 2019, has been pending for inauguration.
“It is noteworthy that that list was not withdrawn nor dissolved by the President who submitted the list to the Senate for screening and confirmation.
“Furthermore, there is no known court judgment or ruling as at today, which has nullified that screened board as some are mischievously alluding to.
“Therefore, the way to go is for the President to order the inauguration of the screened and confirmed board in order to avoid creating bad precedence and allowing mischief-makers who do not wish the Niger Delta well undue interference.
“As for the Senate who had completed their assignment as far as the board of the NDDC is concerned, they cannot afford to put the integrity of the red chamber on the line by going back to repeat the job they have diligently completed.
“Hence we are calling on the President to order the inauguration of the screened and confirmed Board of the NDDC so that the Commission can move forward with its statutory duties of development the Niger Delta region”, the group concluded.
