President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered that the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, board be reconstituted.
The decision conveyed on Thursday has ended the impasse in the intervention agency in the past few weeks.
By the decision, the Pius Odubu-led board that was confirmed by the Senate stands dissolved.
The President validated the Interim Management Committee (IMC) led by Dr. Joi Nunieh to continue running the agency.
The order is contained in a statement by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President Femi Adesina, which also vested the Niger Delta Affairs Ministry with powers to supervise the NDDC.
The statement said: “President Buhari has approved that the board of the NDDC is recomposed and inaugurated after the forensic audit of the organisation.
“The President has also directed that the Interim Management Team of the NDDC shall be in place till the forensic audit is completed and that the supervision of the commission shall remain under the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs.”
The nominees who were screened and cleared by the Senate on October 30, were yet to be inaugurated by the President.
They are: Odubu (Edo); Bernard Okumagba, Managing Director (Delta); Executive Director Projects, Otobong Ndem (Akwa Ibom); Executive Director Finance and Administration, Maxwell Okoh (Bayelsa); Prophet Jones Erue (Delta State representative), Chief Victor Ekhator (Edo), Dr. Joi Nunieh (Rivers) and Nwogu Nwogu (Abia).
Others are Theodore Allison (Bayelsa), Victor Antai (Akwa Ibom), Maurice Effiwatt (Cross River), Olugbenga Elema (Ondo), Uchegbu Kyrian (Imo), Aisha Murtala Muhammed (Kano, Northwest Representative), Ardo Zubairu (Adamawa, Northeast Representative) and Badmus Mutalib (Lagos, Southwest Representative).
Also yesterday, Dr Nunieh said an unnamed contractor in Imo State abandoned a road project after collecting N1.16 billion.
She expressed surprise that very little work was done on the road and bridge leading to Oguta Lake to connect Egwe autonomous community and Nnebukwu in Oguta Local Government Area.
Nunieh revealed that the project, which was awarded in 2010, was abandoned after the contractor collected N455 million after receiving a mobilisation fee of N700 million.
She reaffirmed the commission’s commitment to complete all ongoing projects in the Niger Delta.
She spoke while inspecting NDDC’s projects in Imo State, in the company with the state’s Deputy Governor, Gerald Irona; the representative of Ohaji Egbema Federal Constituency, Kingsley Uju; the commission’s directors and engineers.
Nunieh expressed dissatisfaction with the situation at most of the sites visited, saying the contractors’ non-performance provided justification for the forensic audit.
She said: “At most of the places we visited, people were brandishing Interim Payment Certificates (IPCs), with very little to show on the ground.
“The Interim Management Committee (IMC) will try to complete the projects, to respond to the concerns of the President.
“The reasons for the President’s worries and the pressure on the IMC to change things are becoming obvious. The defaulters do not want us to work to facilitate the carrying out the forensic audit.”
The NDDC chief also assured that the Federal Government’s interventionist agency would carry out the mandate of President Buhari to complete all ongoing projects in the region.
Imo Deputy Governor said the road project were important due to the state’s commitment to tourism, especially at Oguta Lake.
He noted that the bridge would link Oguta with Rivers and Anambra states.
Another project inspected in Oguta LGA was the Izombe-Mgbele Road, awarded by NDDC in 2014.
The acting managing director ordered the contractor, who she said rushed back to the site because of the inspection, to stop work immediately.
She said a similar situation was observed at the Amakofia-Abiaziem Road also in Oguta LGA.
The team also inspected the reclamation and shore protection project at Opuoma in Ohaji-Egbema LGA.
While briefing the team, the President of Opuoma Town Union, Harrison Nwereazu, stated that for over 12 years, the contractor had been playing hide and seek with the community, without reclaiming any land.
Another project inspected was the 25-kilometre dual carriageway connecting Imo and Rivers states, from Port Harcourt Owerri junction-Etekuru-Ohaji Egbema, terminating at Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni LGA of Rivers.
The representative of Ohaji Egbema Federal Constituency, Kingsley Uju, decried the slow pace of work on the road.
He lauded President Buhari for setting up a team to correct the ills at the NDDC.
