Group takes anti-corruption march to NDDC, seeks review of Commission’s Act

Social Development Integrated Centre (Social Action) has called on the National Assembly to review the Acts setting up the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and its policies to give serious sanctions to errant officers of the commission, who act beyond their terms of reference.

The group charged President Muhammad Buhari to fulfill promise to fight corruption by ensuring a complete overhaul of the NDDC.

The group made the call yesterday in Port Harcourt in front of the NDDC office as it commemorated the International Anti-corruption Day 2021.
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The programme officer of Social Action, Green Isaac, called for immediate publishing of the forensic audit reports and the prosecution of delinquent contractors that abandoned over 13,000 projects.

The group also demanded that the NDDC be compelled to make its yearly budget available in the public domain, stressing that the era of fiscal secrecy is over with the completion of the forensic audit.

He said: “We have gathered here to continue to speak up as silence would be treason for us, if we do not speak up against the level of impunity in the NDDC, an agency established two decades ago to bring development to the Niger Delta region.

However, it appears the NDDC became a curse instead of a blessing to the people of the Niger Delta, as it has been largely noted that the agency has become a cesspool, avenue for sharing of our collective wealth. The NDDC over the years has become a bank for settling loyal politicians and, therefore, no longer serves the purpose for which it was created.”
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