Cross Riverians hail Buhari’s forensic audit of NDDC

Members of the Niger Delta in Cross River State have lauded President Muhammadu Buhari for ordering a forensic audit of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) from 2001 to 2019.

Speaking on behalf of the people, a Niger Delta delegate to the 2014 national conference, Chief Orok Otu Duke (JP), in a statement yesterday, said: “The lost and forgotten rubbish in NDDC is now brought to the fore. The mafia’s grip on our commonwealth had been weakened by President Muhammadu Buhari.

“With the ordered forensic audit of the NDDC finances from 2001 to 2019, the mafia has lost a place in paradise. The indignant people are umbrageous at the loss of their territory, influence and power, so, they want to wage war on progress in the Niger Delta and stay the hands of providence.”

Duke, who was also a two-time Deputy Speaker in Cross River State House of Assembly, said the appointment of Godswill Akpabio as the Minister of Niger Delta was an excellent decision as he “is a ‘’performer’’ and an achiever.

He said: “In whatever role that he finds himself, he seems to echo the words of the Greek astronomer and mathematician, Archimedes of Syracuse, that says ‘’give me a fulcrum and I shall move the world. Give me a firm spot on which to stand, and I shall move the earth.’

“We need to give Godswill Akpabio the leverage to clean the Augean stable and give all of us the results that we yearn for. In the end, I believe that not only Archimedes, but also all of us will also echo Archimedes, by celebrating ‘’Eureka’’

He stated that since the year 2000 when NDDC was created as an interventionist body, “some citizens have constituted themselves into landlords and have over the years, become authorities unto themselves deciding who gets contracts in the Niger Delta (even if a contractor or consultant is incompetent); who gets mobilised or who gets paid on completion of the contracts and so on.”

“This decay has continued and permeated the administrative infrastructure of the NDDC, thereby leading to trillions of naira being disbursed for non-existent contracts or shoddily executed contracts – leading to outstanding ‘’ debts and claims’’ that run into more trillions of naira.

“This assumption of propriety and entitlement by certain leaders and youths in the Niger Delta has led to heightened profligacy and economic/psychological terrorism among us. And they have made war against established authorities and held the government hostage. Intermittent and internecine protests are usually carried out to cover up obvious discrepancies.

“A new minister, Niger Delta Ministry has come and is willing and ready to work and all those without skeletons should willy-nilly co-operate with him, but those who are afraid of the light are now fighting back,” the statement further said.