The federal government, on Wednesday, inaugurated the Governing Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
The new board has as Chairman a former media aide to President Muhammadu Buhari, Lauretta Onochie and Samuel Ogbukwu as Managing Director.
While inaugurating the Board in Abuja, Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Umana Umana, urged Board members to immediately hit the ground running by implementing recommendations of the Report of the Forensic Audit of the Commission carried out in 2019.
Umana charged the Board to look into allegations of irregular employment from 2019 and follow up on the ongoing personnel audit in the Commission.
He said, “Every contract above the threshold of management is to be referred to the Ministerial Tender Board of the Federal Executive Council.
“Any breach of contract approval limit will attract severe sanctions.”
Umana, who encouraged members to focus on the completion of ongoing projects, advised them to shun the lure of the “award of spurious and indiscriminate new contracts”, so as to help in repairing the negative public perception about the NDDC.
In his remarks, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, said the inauguration of the new Board would not have been possible without collaboration with the National Assembly.
Mustapha, who was represented by a former Permanent Secretary, Habiba Lawal, charged members of the new NDDC Board to bring all their expertise to bear to transform the lives and environment of the region.
He added that the Board should endeavour to be transparent and follow due diligence in all its activities so as to restore the hope and resilience of the Niger Delta people in the Commission.
On her part, the new Chairman of the Board, Onochie, appealed to Nigerians especially people from the Niger Delta region to accord them the necessary support needed to deliver on their mandate.
She assured that the Board has put in place a template for the speedy development of the socioeconomic development of the region.
According to her, the the Buhari administration was committed to youth development and would do everything possible to equip youths in the region with necessary skills to compete with their peers from other climes.
She said, “we cannot continue to work with failed template and get a different result.
“We are going to do things totally different so that the people of Niger Delta can benefit from what Nigeria has been investing in the region. In the past, many investment in the Niger Delta have find its way to Abuja, London, Dubai and elsewhere.”
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