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From Tony John, Port Harcourt
Leaders of ex-agitators have called on the new governing board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to publish the names of persons indicted by the forensic audit report of the Commission.
Speaking for other leaders after an emergency meeting of the ex-agitators in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, at the weekend, Nature Dumale explained that making the identities of such persons public would act as a warning to others seeking to do business with the Commission.
Dumale commended the leadership style of the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Umana Okon Umana and congratulated the board, which has Sam Ogbuku as the Managing Director and Lauretta Onochie as chairperson.
Dumale appealed to the new board to win the hearts of the people by naming politicians, contractors and firms that were accused by the report of mismanaging their engagements with the commission.
Dumale, who is the Chairman of Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) Strategic Communication Committee (SCC), appealed to the board to initiate an inquiry into how the former interim administrators of the Commission spent about N300 billion that accrued to the NDDC within their tenure.
He said the board would earn the confidence of the public and prove that it will be no longer be business as usual by publishing the names of those indicted by the forensic audit report and probing the N300 billion expenditure.
He insisted that Niger Delta that owns the NDDC and deserves to know the outcome of the audit initiated by President Muhammadu Buhari.
He dismissed claims that publishing the identities of such persons would amount to blackmail, insisting that it would rather act as a deterrent to others and strengthen the corporate governance policy of the commission.
Dumale said: “As much as we are happy that after a long time we now have a credible board on ground to pilot the affairs of the NDDC, it is important to also say that we cannot waste money and time investigating the activities of the commission without publishing the result of such expensive exercise.
“People want to see the report. They want to see people punished for their negative role in under-developing the region by collecting money for contracts they never executed.
“The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Obong Umanah Okon Umanah had alleged that N300 billion was frittered away by the past leadership of the NDDC. This allegation and the sum involved are too weighty to be ignored.
“We call on the Laurreta Onochie-led board to set up a panel to look into how such money was used for. This is the only way this board can curry support from the people.”
