A youth group in the Niger Delta region has tasked anti-corruption officials to probe all financial transactions of the Niger-Delta Development Commission, NDDC, under the leadership of Christian Oboh in the last one and half years.
A National Officer of the Niger Delta Youth Movement, NDYM, Bright Ojugbuyi, on Sunday challenged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to summon the Managing Director of the NDDC to explain why most of the commission’s projects in the Niger-Delta region have been abandoned by their contractors.
Mr. Ojugbuyi, who is also a former president of the group in Ondo State, in a statement, said the NDDC under the administration of Mr. Oboh had failed in the discharge of its duties to the people in the mandate area.
He alleged that the administration of Mr. Oboh is the most corrupt in the history of the commission due to its inefficiency amidst allegations of financial misconduct.
The official alleged that the NDDC boss is now running the commission as an extension of his private business by constantly disregarding the board’s resolution and directive on issues that bother on the affairs of people in the catchment area.
Mr. Ojugbuyi explained that the commission has derailed from its constitutional responsibility due to the alleged selfish interest of some greedy management members who are fond of enriching themselves at the expense of the objectives and set goals of the commission.
He expressed dismay over the deliberate refusal of the Managing Director of the NDDC to pay most of the contractors and consultants handling the commission’s projects in the Niger-Delta region their money even after the completion and certification of their jobs by the board.
The youth leader, however, lauded the federal government’s amnesty programme under the chairmanship of Kingsley Kuku, which he said has contributed immensely to the relative peace and economic lives of the people in the region.
He suggested that some of the ex-militants currently undergoing training should be fully integrated into government parastatals, so that government’s efforts on them will not be in vain.
While calling on President Jonathan and the National Assembly to intervene in the matter, the NDYM official said the group might carry out serial protest across the Niger-Delta region if the issues that led to the stoppage of most of the commission’s projects are not addressed within two weeks.
“We have discovered that Christian Oboh has refused to learn from the mistakes and downfall of his predecessors and our findings have revealed that his deliberate refusal to pay the contractors and consultants their money after the completion and certification of their jobs by the board has been the cogent reason why these projects have been abandoned.
“The only thing the commission does now is to spend a hundred million naira to transport goods of one million naira value from Lagos to Port Harcourt on a daily basis. And if these issues are not addressed urgently, we may be compelled to speak the language the commission understands,” Mr. Ojugbuyi said.