In recent times, NDDC has been in the news for the wrong reasons. Since the creation of NDDC, human development indicators have shown that the region has only worsened with the Commission failing to deliver much needed development coveted by the people of the region; BENJAMIN UMUTEME reports.
The Niger Delta Development Commission was established by Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo in the year 2000 with the sole mandate of developing the oil-rich Niger Delta region of Nigeria.
In September 2008, President Umaru Yar’Adua announced the formation of a Niger Delta Ministry, with the Niger Delta Development Commission to become a parastatal under the ministry.
The Commission came into being due to demands by the population of the region over years of neglect of the region by oil companies whose operations have devastated its ecosystem since the late 1950s.
One of the core mandates of the Commission is to train and educate the youths of the oil rich Niger Delta regions to curb hostilities and militancy, while developing key infrastructure to promote diversification and productivity.
However, over the years, NDDC has abandoned its core mandate of developing key infrastructure and engaged in more procurement as political office holders from the region and beyond have turned it into a cash cow which is at its beck and call.
And it did come to a head following revelation at the public hearing of the Committee on Niger Delta which was probing alleged financial impropriety in the Commission.
And with it, came allegations and counter allegation from all the parties involved in the probe.
In the past couple of weeks since the probe was suspended, reactions continue to trail the allegations.
Lack of accountability
At a vitual meeting organised by the Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism (PTCIJ), last Friday, co-founder and CEO of budgIT, Olusegun Onigbinde, slammed the interventionist agency for a lack of accountability.
At the virtual meeting which had as its theme: “Discussing financial losses from mismanagement of funds within Niger Delta Development Commission and
Its Impact on the Region”, Onigbinde, noted that the lack of accountability by the Commission has reflected in the way it conducts its business. He queried how the Commission can claim to spending billions on various projects without a monitoring framework in place.
“There is no cohesion in project implementation which is a gross waste of resources.” According to him, it will be difficult to get anything meaningful from NDDC especially with the way it has been politicized.
He lamented that rather than stick to its interventionist mandate, the Commission the way it is presently set up continues to encourage graft.
During the probe by the green chamber of NASS, it was alleged that NDDC’s Interim Management Committee (IMC) spend about N81 billion in 5 months. Part of which includes N1.5 billions to staff as covid-19 relief package.
The BudGit co-founder pointed out that the level of graft at the Commission reflected the culture in the region. “it is all about doling out money,” he added.
‘Resource curse’
Deputy Director, Nigeria Office of the MacArthur Foundation, Dayo Olaide described the crisis in the NDDC as a crystalisationof the resource curse which continues to trail the region. According to him, rather than help remediate devastation in the region through infrastructure development, it had only worsened the situation as projects have either been abandoned or not undertaken at all.
He noted that with 3 per cent oil companies’ yearly budget and 50 per cent of ecological funds going to the Commission, “there was always going to be massive corruption as there was no clear.”
Olaide said it produced a “patronage network that emerged through procurement bazaar leading to diminishing economic opportunity for the masses while elite greed grows,” he added.
He wondered why the Presidency and the governors of the region have over the years failed to intervene to stop the rot.
“The Presidency has failed in its duty. It is culpable. When was the last time the annual audit report of the commission was considered by the Presidency,” he asked.
For Olaide, political control of the NDDC will make it difficult for anybody to reform the Commission. He said, “NDDC should not be accountable to politicians.”
According to a report by the PTCIJ, over the last 20 years, human development has diminished except for Bayelsa, and between 2001 and 2018, the commission got N2.16 trillion. Just as it said N1.23 trillion was wasted on 5,300. In the 20 years of its existence, the NDDC says it implemented over 9,000 projects.
Recommendations
Participants at the meeting which included Adenike Aloba; the Deputy Director of the MacArthur Foundation Dayo Olaide; Deputy Chairman House of Representatives’ Committee on Niger Delta Affairs, Hon. Henry Nwawuba; Chief Executive and Director of BudgIT, Seun Onigbinde; Head of the National Advocacy Centre of Social Action in Port Harcourt, Vivian Bellonwu; Public policy expert Dr. Tobi Oluwatola, Founder of Dataphyte Joshua Olufemi and Executive Director and Publisher Premium Times, Dapo Olorunyomi, said there was need to strengthen the accountability contract between the NDDC and the citizens. According to them, NDDC should not be accountable to politicians but people of the Niger Delta region, they should have a say on who is appointed minister and who is appointed to represent them.
They further said Community-level accountability mechanisms must be put in place, CSOs must look for a way to stand behind the citizens and help them demand accountability from persons and institutions put in place to serve them. Citizens must be empowered to take up project monitoring by themselves.
Other recommendation by the panelists was that National assembly must work with MDAs, CSOs and the media; An inclusive framework should be created for host communities whose lands are being exploited; The anti-corruption agency must work with the media and CSOs to track and prosecute those indicted in the scandal, just like what the ICPC is doing in the area of constituency project tracking; The development agenda for NDDC needs to be reviewed.
“Monitoring and evaluation frameworks need to be developed and must take into consideration the important question of what is value for money in the NDDC with its multiple sources of revenue?”
“The appointment of persons has continuously been politicised without professionals working in the field. There is an urgent need to de-emphasize the politicization of the Commission which hinders the effort of anyone trying to
reform NDDC for the development in the Niger Delta.
“NDDC should stop awarding more contracts until the ones awarded are executed. This model of development should be institutionalized’ NDDC budget should be made open as part of the open government initiative; The NDDC should be seen not just as an intervention and procurement agency but as a development agency with long term sustainability plans; BPP should maintain a national database of companies with poor performance history; BPP procurement laws should be totally overhauled to begin to accommodate start-up companies and SMEs who are qualified to execute projects; The CAC should intensify efforts to make company registers open, comprehensive and linked to beneficiary details of all registered companies.
“There should be inter-agency cooperation, not just in relation to the NDDC, but across board. The CAC and BPP, for instance, can create an integrated database
that houses information about companies and contractors and beneficial owners; BPP and ICRC already exist and there is no need to create another national procurement council. The government needs to evolve thinking strategically on how to frame the problem and the approach and the procurement issues will be avoided.
“Accountability mechanisms enshrined in the Constitution should be activated; Journalism is totally meaningless if accountability journalism is not given proper reference because a free and independent media helps provide oversight across all boards; review those laws that limit accountability journalism.
“The NDDC should adopt the Nigeria Sovereign Investments Authority (NSIA) model; Public-private partnerships should be sought and embraced. PPP has not been explored in the NDDC in its 19 years of existence; and The review of the NDDC master plan to align with the needs of the host community.”
