Ijaw youths laud Buhari over forensic audit of NDDC

Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa

The Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide has commended President Muhammadu Buhari over his directive that a forensic audit should be carried out on the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) from inception till date.

The organisation also pleaded that the same forensic report should be extended to the Presidential Amnesty Programme.

In a statement signed in Yenagoa by its Secretary General, Mr. Alfred Kemepado, the group states that the audit and its final report if carried out sincerely would hopefully show the rot and shame that the organisation represents in recent years.

Kemepado stated that the NDDC and the Amnesty programme have been more of a problem to the youths and people of the Niger Delta rather than the solution it was set up to be.

He called on President Buhari to please make out sufficient time to fund the audit committee that would be set up to audit the NDDC and make enough money available to them so as to ensure they are not influenced by the NDDC actors

The IYC scribe also called on the President to forensically audit the Presidential Amnesty Programme to ensure the productivity of that programme for the people of the Niger Delta.

Kemepado further requested that the President should also look into the over politicization of the commission and ensure political consideration does not affect its operations.

The statement read in part: “The commission seems to have lost its vision and mission to funding of political activities instead of the development of the region. A focused NDDC is capable of bringing massive development and total closure to the issues affecting the Niger Delta, especially the security issues. Instead the NDDC is known for issuing bogus contracts to enrich their cronies who are most times not people from the Niger Delta region. We urged President Buhari not to fail to expose culprits no matter how highly placed or which political party they belong. We plead with President Buhari to place competence, experience and sufficient knowledge of the ethos, logos and pathos of the region ahead of political patronage in appointing members of the Board, as well as the details of the law establishing the NDDC board. The members appointed or that would be appointed must prove capacity to deliver on the original mandate of the commission before they are considered for such sensitive assignments.”