•FG approves N300bn for improved development in Niger Delta
Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt
The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) yesterday revealed that 953 awarded projects by the commission were abandoned in Rivers State.
Representative of Rivers State in the Board of the NDDC, Chief Tony Okocha, revealed this during an interactive session with members of the Rivers State Council of Traditional Rulers (RSCTR), in Port Harcourt.
Okocha also said the current NDDC board was making frantic efforts to change the negative perception about the interventionist agency by the people of the Niger Delta region.
He said that it was the decision of the Board that the current leadership of the commission will lead a different example. “We have started the process of a change, which also conforms with Mr. President’s Renewed Hope Agenda for Nigeria.
“In my study, it was clear to me that Rivers State is number two, in terms of states that have abandoned projects. Rivers State has 953 abandoned NDDC projects. These projects are dotted and around the nooks and crannies of the state .
“We thought we could open up this interaction to ask ourselves and indeed ask our fathers, what happened? Because what happened was before we came. We are barely two months old. So, what happened? Why are these projects there uncompleted?
“My investigation again showed three things. The first is that some of these projects were abandoned because of the frightening nature of the NDDC board membership, that some managing directors or boards come, they award their own contracts.
“One of the things that had bedevilled this developmental stride is the inconsistency of government. Three months down the line, a board is set up and after three months, the same board is dissolved.
“Within the period they existed, they would have awarded contracts to people. Sometimes, people take their own money, go to the field and don’t get their monies paid.”
In his remarks, chairman of the Rivers State Council of Traditional Rulers, Sergeant Awuse, appreciated President Bola Tinubu for the quality of persons he appointed into the NDDC Board.
Meanwhile, the federal government has recently approved N300 billion allocation from the 2024 Appropriation Act for improved development of the Niger Delta region.
The fund signed by President Bola Tinubu for the interventionist agency, NDDC aimed at tackling the issues of poverty and underdevelopment of the region.
The Executive Director Finance and Administration (EDFA), of NDDC, Mr Boma Iyaye made the disclosure yesterday, at the interactive session with members of the State Council of Traditional Rulers, organised by the Rivers State representative in the NDDC, Mr Tony Okocha.
Addressing the traditional rulers, Iyaye assured the monarchs that 2024 would be a better year for the Niger Delta region.
“The federal government has approved N300 billion for the Niger Delta region. That is a very serious leap from what it used to be. We used to be in the region of N109 billion for the entire region but in this year 2024 it has moved from about N100 billion to N300billon.
“It means more money for the states, more money for Rivers State. And the board and management in their wisdom are trying to see how states will get higher allocations, especially the big states. So we are voting whopping sums for development in these states,” he said.
The EDFA, NDDC further stated that Rivers State, as a major source of the national revenue will get its fair share of development based on the agreed to agreed formula.
“Rivers State, as has been said is one of the major producers of revenue that we share in this country. If you put the other states together, the entire Niger Delta region produces about 80-90 per cent of the entire revenue that is accrues to our dear country and so the region is very important.
“Nobody will toy with it and no government or administration will toy with the Niger Delta region. And that is why you can see that the president think it important to immediately appoint the board for the NDDC”, Iyaye stated.
The representative of Rivers State in the Board of the NDDC, said the interactive session was necessitates by the desire of the current NDDC Board to change the negative trajectory of the Commission.
He said: “It was the decision of the Board that we will lead a different example. We have started the process of a change, which also conforms with Mr. President’s Renewed Hope Agenda for Nigeria.
Earlier in his remarks, chairman of the State council of traditional ruler, Awuse, expressed his gratitude to the NDDC representative for the visit.
He noted that it was first of its kind to the council since the inception of NDDC and blessed him for the show of respect and recognition to members of the council, praying God to help him succeed in the office.
