Commission’s defaulting contractors must be jailed, gov insists
The Edo State Governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki, has maintained that his administration is strongly in support of the directive by President Muhammadu Buhari for a forensic audit of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), noting that the state ranks highest in the commission’s abandoned project list.
Obaseki said this when he received the acting Managing Director of NDDC, Dr Gbene Joi Nunieh, with other members of the Interim Management Committee (IMC), who were on a courtesy visit at the Government House in Benin City, the Edo State Capital.
The governor also frowned at the top-to-bottom governance arrangement of the NDDC, adding that it can’t develop the region, stressing that the commission’s defaulting contractors must be jailed.
“To resolve the issue of corruption in NDDC, people must go to jail. Those who supervised and managed these contracts and every other person found culpable must be made to face the law,” he said.
Governor Obaseki, who congratulated the commission’s boss on her appointment, assured that his administration will work with the new NDDC management to ensure it meets its goals.
“The NDDC has not been fair to Edo State as we have more abandoned projects in the state than other states. We are disappointed with the old management and board of NDDC. We insist on the forensic audit to ensure such doesn’t happen again. I hope that with the new acting MD, we would begin to do the right thing and move the region forward.”
Obaseki continued, “The truth is that the governance arrangement of NDDC from top to bottom can’t develop the region. Its DNA is corruption. We see how NDDC contracts are traded and how much premium is paid on the contracts.
Obaseki thanked the new MD for pushing for the Advisory Council Meeting of Governors in the nine states, scheduled to hold in January 2020.
In her response, Dr Nunieh said the commission was in the state to inspect some of the roads and projects the NDDC listed as completed, abandoned, failed and on-going.
