“Law Enforcement Agencies Has Recovered Over N3.7bn From NDDC Contractors” – President Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has said law enforcement agencies have recovered over N3.7billion and various assets worth billions of naira from contractors and former directors of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

According to a statement issued by Femi Adesina, presidential spokesman, on March 10, the president disclosed this at the inauguration of NDDC advisory committee.

The committee comprises nine governors of the Niger Delta region and the ministers of Niger Delta affairs and environment.

President Buhari said;

To date, the EFCC and other agencies of Government have recovered over N3.7billion in cash and various assets worth billions of Naira from some contractors and former Directors of the Commission.

I am told that government agencies have placed liens on over N6 billion of assets that are being investigated.

He also told the committee that these abuses of the past show the need for strict and diligent oversight, going forward.

President Buhari also asked them to discharge the new assignment diligently and work closely with the relevant ministries, adding that he looked forward to seeing positive changes in the affairs of the commission and on the ground in the Niger Delta region.

The president recalled that in 2016, his administration launched the “New Vision for the Niger Delta”, aimed at bringing sustainable peace, security, infrastructure and human capital development to the region.

He said the medium to achieve this noble aim was through the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs (NDDC) and the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP).

The president, however, expressed regret that in the past these institutions could not deliver their mandates owing to mismanagement.

He said;

As a result, the people of the Niger Delta were left with abandoned infrastructural projects and substandard social programmes that improved their living conditions.

It is to reverse this trend I approved, in February 2020, the constitution of a 10-Man Presidential Monitoring Committee (PMC) as provided for in Section 21 of the NDDC Establishment Act.

He said the PMC, the minister of Niger Delta affairs and its members will chair drawn from various MDAs, will focus on monitoring the operations and activities of the commission, and will report to him.

In November, Cairo Ojougboh, NDDC acting executive director of projects, said a sitting Nigerian senator was handling 300 of the commission’s project.

Ojougboh, who did not name the senator, said they have fully paid 120 of the contracts, saying that the contracts are being investigated.

Buhari had ordered a forensic audit of the operations of the commission from 2001 to 2019.

The president said the directive became imperative in view of the persistent criticisms of the operations of the commission.