President Tinubu wants better deal for Niger Delta – NDDC Boss

PORT HARCOURT – The Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Dr Samuel Ogbuku, says President Ahmed Bola Tinubu has charged the Commission to do more to develop the Niger Delta region and impact positively on the lives of the people.

Speaking during an interactive session with management and staff of NDDC at the Commission’s headquarters in Port Harcourt, Ogbuku said that he was given “New Commandments” when he visited the President recently at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

He said that the President expressed disappointment at the level of underdevelopment in the Niger Delta region and the performance of the NDDC as an interventionist agency in the oil-rich region. According to him, President Tinubu decried the mismanagement of resources of the Niger Delta region and directed the management team to return to the Commission and ensure that a new NDDC emerged.

The NDDC boss said that President Tinubu was anxious to reposition the NDDC to ensure that it worked in the interest of the people of the region, stating: “I made a pledge to President Tinubu that all resources at the Commission’s disposal will be judiciously utilized to increase and improve the impact of the NDDC in the region.”

Speaking further, he clarified that it was only the NDDC Governing Board that was dissolved by the directive of the Federal Government, while the Commission’s Management team, consisting of the NDDC’s Managing Director, the Executive Director Finance and Administration as well as the Executive Director Projects remained intact.

He announced that the Commission was planning to engage a multinational professional services consultant, KPMG to help the Commission set up a viable and sustainable Corporate Governance structure.

In his own remarks, the NDDC Executive Director, Projects, Mr. Charles Ogunmola, noted that the management was setting up new units to facilitate the ease of doing business with the Commission. He identified the proposed new units as Due Process Unit, Corporate Governance Unit and Contractor Support Unit.

Speaking on behalf of the staff, the Chairman of NDDC Staff Union, Comrade Anthony Gbendo, appealed to the management to expedite action on the staff conditions of service, which he noted was long overdue for approval.