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The Minister of Niger Delta Affair, Umana Okon Umana on Wednesday, inaugurated the Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on New Media, Ms Lauretta Onochie as the Chairman Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) alongside 14 other members of the Board.
While inaugurating the NDDC Board members in Abuja, the Minister reminded them that the task ahead of them is to faithfully implement the recommendations of the report of the Forensic Audit.
He charged them to strictly adhere to the relevant provisions of the extant rules in the Service, particularly compliance with procurement thresholds as enshrined in the Public Procurement Act of the nation, and abide by the operating financial regulations to ensure prudence in the management of the limited resources.
The Minister also urged the new management to shun the impulse for the award of spurious and indiscriminate new contracts. He said instead the new management should focus on the completion of ongoing projects to better serve the people of the region and deliver on the mandate of the NDCC, thereby helping to repair the negative public perception for the Commission.
“The tasks before the New Board shall include a faithful implementation of the recommendations of the report of the Forensic Audit. Besides the findings of the Forensic Audit, the Government has received numerous petitions alleging irregularities in employment in the Commission.
“The New Board will have to look into these allegations of irregular employment from 2019 and follow up on the ongoing personnel audit in the Commission to make sure that all cases of employment during the period under review were in accordance with extant rules and regulations of the Service.
On our part as the overseeing Ministry, we will not relent in providing and availing the Board and the Commission at large with the necessary support and guidance needed for a successful tenure.
“Every contract above the threshold of Management is to be referred to the Ministerial Tenders Board and the Federal Executive Council. Any breach of contract approval limits will attract severe sanctions.
“I also urge you to shun the impulse for the award of spurious and indiscriminate new contracts, and suggest that you instead focus on the completion of ongoing projects to better serve the people of the region and deliver on the mandate of the NDCC, thereby helping to repair the negative public perception for the Commission.
While addressing journalists after her inauguration, Onochie said things would be done differently at the NDDC to achieve greater results which would transform the lives of the youth and entire population of the Niger Delta Region.
“We have a template, the Minister has spoken widely about how we are going to reposition the NDDC. We are not going to do things the way we used to do them before, because if we continue doing things the way we did before, then we will get the same result that has made NDDC a troubled Commission.
“We are going to have changes, serious changes; we are going to do things totally different so that the people of Niger Delta can benefit from what the Nigerian people have been investing in the Niger Delta.
“In the past, it was that the money invested in the Niger Delta finds its way to Abuja, Lagos, London Dubai and elsewhere, that is not what we want anymore, our youths are all over asking to be Personal Assistants where they themselves can be employers of labour.
“We are going to reposition our region, empower our youth population so that they can be proud of who they are, they can be proud of where they come from”, she said.
Mr. Dimgba Erugba (Abia State), Dr. Emem Willcox Wills (Akwa Ibom State), Elder Denyanbofa Dimaro (Bayelsa State), Hon. Orok Duke (Cross River State), Dr. Pius Odubu (Edo State), Hon. Gbenga Edema (Ondo State), Engr. Anthony Ekene (Imo State), Mr. Elekwachi Dimkpa (Rivers State).
Others are Alhaji. Mohammed Kabir Abubakar (Rep, North Central), Prof. Tahir Mamman SAN (Rep North East), Alhaji. Sadiq Sami Sule-lkoh (Rep North West), Chief Dr. Samuel Ogbuku (Managing Director), Major-General Charles Airhiavbere (Rtd.) (Executive Director Finance and Admin) and Charles Ogunmola (Executive Director Project)
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