Why FG should direct NEITI to audit NDDC, by ANEEJ

The Federal Government has been urged to direct Nigeria Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI) to undertake the forensic investigation of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

Executive Director, Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ), David Ugolor, said that NEITI, which had done an audit of the NDDC in 2014, has a multi-stakeholder platform, which civil society, private sector and state governments are represented, institutional memory, legal backing, and integrity to undertake the forensic audit of the crisis-ridden intervention agency.

Ugolor, therefore, urged President Muhammadu Buhari to take responsibility for the outcome of the forensic investigation and provide the political will that would end the culture of impunity in the NDDC.

He stated that NEITI is a neutral independent multi-stakeholder body backed by law (NEITI Act) and has proven over the years that its report can be replied on.

The ANEEJ executive director, who stated that to avoid the controversy surrounding the forensic audit of the commission, NEITI, which has various stakeholders, would ensure the audit is devoid of controversy, said: “NEITI has the technical requirements to carry out the forensic investigation with less resources and less political interference. NEITI is an internationally-recognized institution with a global reputation.”

Ugolor said his organisation had started collating signatures of those who endorsed this call for NEITI to carry out the forensic investigation.

This, according to him, would be followed by a nationwide mobilisation to advocate for a comprehensive and independent forensic audit of the NDDC.