From allegations of sexual harassment, slaps for unauthorized fondling; episodes of near abductions of a ‘Port-Harcourt gal’ to the drums of war from Ogonis to the Calabars, all within and because of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), President Muhammadu Buhari is very angry and has called for caution.
You would agree that recent reports on happenings between the Minister of Niger Delta, Senator Godswill Akpabio and former Acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Dr. Joy Nunieh had made screaming negative news headlines in the last few days.
However, in his first public reaction to the NDDC saga, including revelations and relations with the National, President Buhari directed that activities be better coordinated among security and investigating agencies with the National Assembly.
According to a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, the President said the need for the call for caution became necessary to ensure that the administration’s effort to bring sanity, transparency and accountability to the management of the large amount of resources dedicated to development of the Niger Delta sub-region is not derailed.
President Buhari expressed his strong determination to get to the root of the problem undermining the development of the Niger Delta and its peoples in spite of enormous national resources voted year after year for this singular purpose.
According to the directive, auditing firms and investigative agencies working in collaboration with National Assembly Committees to resolve the challenges in the NDDC must initiate actions in a time-bound manner and duly inform the Presidency of the actions being taken.
The President also directed timely sharing of information and knowledge in a way to speedily assist the administration to diagnose what had gone wrong in the past and what needs to be done to make corrections in order to return the NDDC to its original mandate of making life better for people in Niger Delta.
President Buhari said the administration wants to bring about “rapid, even and sustainable development to the region.”
The President gave firm assurance that his administration would put in place a transparent and accountable governance framework, not only in the NDDC but in all other institutions of government