Barring any lastminute change of plans, President Muhammadu Buhari may, this week, set up an inter-agency panel to scrutinise the accounts of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), New Telegraph has learnt. This development followed the release of a special report on the activities of the NDDC by the Auditor-General of the Federation, Mr. Samuel Ukura, penultimate week that the interventionist agency could not account for about N183 billion of funds allocated to it between 2008 and 2012.
It could not be immediately confirmed if the presidential intervention equally covers the same period unveiled in the special report. But the Presidency has said the report was not in its possession. “I don’t have that report,” Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, said in a terse response to our correspondent’s enquiry on the matter.
All the same, the management of the NDDC, comprising the Managing Director and two Executive Directors, has commenced an intense lobby of some leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress(APC) to escape sack before the end of their tenure. The management team are Barrister Bassey Dan Abia (Managing Director), Dr. Henry Ogiri (Executive Director, Finance and Administration) as well as Engr. Omatsuli Tuoyo (Executive Director, Projects).
They have two more years to complete their tenure having been inaugurated in December 2013. According to a highlyplaced presidency source, President Buhari had severally expressed his anger with the way the NDDC was managed and politicised even before the release of the Auditor-General’s report.
The source said: “It appears that someone or some persons somewhere are not taking the matter seriously because it baffles some of us that the issue which is a purely administrative matter is now being taken to the court of the Nigerian media. “What is there in it? If a report is raised and submitted and issues are raised therein, I do not think there is any reason to take a constitutionally empowered institution like that of the Auditor- General to the cleaners in the media.
“One thing is clear, without indicting anyone, it is common knowledge that the NDDC lately become a political oasis for people to enhance their financial fortunes; it is a place that has been distorted and politicised. “Even before the release of that report that is now causing trouble in the media, Mr. President had severally expressed worry and concern over the way the agency has been managed each time he talked about how to tackle the under development in the oil-rich areas. “I think the way out is for the government to ascertain the veracity of the claims of both sides and the only way to do this is to two-fold; you either set up an inter-agency audit team or you go for an internationally acclaimed audit firm to look into the books of the commission.
“Depending on the thinking of the president, I believe one of the two will be done so fast too, may be this week, so that all these needless lobby of leaders of the party (APC) will stop because it is not good for our image that an allegedly corrupt agency is lobbying leaders of the APC to remain in office even when certain things some of them did during the last elections are still fresh.”
It could not be immediately confirmed if the planned probe of the NDDC has to do only with the special report or the alleged involvement of some NDDC top shots in the last elections. According to checks, while a group of APC leaders led by the national chairman, Chief John Odigie- Oyegun, is disposed to allowing the NDDC management team to serve out its four-year tenure, another led by former Rivers State governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, is pushing for the disbandment of the team. New Telegraph gathered that Amaechi’s position is anchored on the involvement of two of the NDDC’s management team in the affairs of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last elections.
The Auditor-General of the Federation had 10 days ago, while submitting three special audit reports to the Clerk of the National Assembly, Alhaji Salisu Maikasuwa, said the sum of N183 billion was diverted by the NDDC. In the report, NDDC was accused of paying N70.4 billion to contractors who did not move to sites to execute certain projects. The Auditor-General explained that the amount was discovered in the periodic checks carried out by his office on the activities and programmes of the NDDC between 2008 and 2012.
For more scintillating and juicy stories, follow the official Naijapals accounts On Twitter - @Naijapals and Facebook - www.facebook.com/naijapals
| Posted: at | |
PoliticxGuru
Barluty
ngfineface
winace
Giftedshady
eoadex2003
Wysetots
chealseafc
Ritabrenice
elchymo
moralemike07
gogoman
Blessed75
dareper
bukolabk
TRENDING GISTS 
PHOTOS: 8 Years Old Girl Severely Assaulted and Left Almost Blinded by Her Aunt in Lagos
Watch Touching Video Of Lady Surprising Boyfriend Who’s An Okada Rider
Sports Minister, John Enoh Roots For Peseiro’s Return To Super Eagles
Just in: EFCC Withdraws Suit Against Yahaya Bello In Appeal Court Over Alleged Fr@ud
Federal Govt Suspends Dana Airline Indefinitely Over Safety Concerns