President Muhammadu Buhari would next month receive the much awaited report of the ongoing forensic audit of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NNDC).
Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, disclosed this in an interview with State House Correspondents, after he met with the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof Ibrahim Gambari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Akpabio, who expressed satisfaction with the progress the forensic audit has made so far, insisted that the exercise was begun not just to clean up what he called the mess in the NNDC, but to reposition the commission and ensure optimal performance as against the practice in the past, where he said, it only served as “just an agency for the purposes of election only.”
He said “The field forensic audit is on course and is progressing very well. I am happy with the progress so far and I am very certain that come the end of July, is just a month and a few weeks away, the final result will be given to Mr. President for final implementation.”
NDDC Board
The Minister further disclosed that the process towards the composition of the NDDC board was also being fast tracked so as to come up with a final list to be transmitted to the National Assembly for further action.
“In terms of the composition of the board of the NDDC, of course we have fast tracked the process, the National Assembly will soon get the list. But that is not as important as the forensic audit which we have already given a deadline for. Our belief is that the new board will use those recommendations to turn around the agency,” he said.
He however, dismissed insinuations that he is under pressure by militants in the region to reconstitute the board, describing the development as “politics.”
“No. Everything is politics whether it’s development or composition. Nobody has put me under pressure to reconstitute the board. I can sponsor any group of people to make a statement but the major thing is peace in the region.
“The region is very critical to the economy of the country. So, when I made the move I made, to go and talk to stakeholders, it was for the purpose of the economy of the nation.
“Also, we cannot afford for the South-South region particularly the Niger Delta to go into a crisis like what we are witnessing in the South-East and all that,” He said.
Economy
According to Akpabio, it was the example he set that is currently being replicated in the South East region where restiveness has taken the center stage.
He said: “I think the example I set is what is being emulated now in the South-East, that there is need for those in government to go home and interact with the grassroots and explain things to them so that we can stop the restiveness that we are witnessing in many zones in the country.
“So, I’m going into the creeks to meet with the traditional fathers and all, I can tell you we don’t have militants any longer because of the amnesty programme but you can say ex-agitators.
“It was in the interest not just for the security of the region but also the peace of the region and by implication to ensure that critical infrastructure that affects the economy of the country were maintained and were not tempered with.
“I think it was a step in the right direction because, I can see even the South-East is also emulating that example and I want to also urge other zones in the country to do so. We can’t all concentrate in Abuja, we should go back home and get the feelings of our people and explain things to them, that way you will reduce the tension because sometimes ignorance can lead to insurgence and insecurity.
“So, I will continue to interact with my people, you may call it ultimatum or anything, it’s not. Sometimes it is a way of trying to say, come home and talk to us and let us know what is going on.
“So the constitution of the board is on course and also is the forensic audit but you cannot separate the two because it’s the result of the audit that the board will use in repositioning the NDDC.”
Nnenna.O
