From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Olanipekun Olukoyede, has announced that more recovered looted funds will be made available to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to execute projects in the Niger Delta region.
Olukoyede made this statement in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, while commissioning two NDDC projects: the Renewed Hope 1,000-capacity Multipurpose Training Centre and Internally Displaced Persons Camp at Otuokpoti in Ogbia Local Government Area, and the NDDC Bayelsa State Office in Yenagoa. He noted that both projects were financed from recovered funds returned to the NDDC, expressing satisfaction with the commission’s transparent and judicious use of these funds.
The Minister of Regional Development, Engr Abubakar Momoh, commended the Bayelsa State government for its continued support of federal agencies like the NDDC, urging other states to emulate this partnership for rapid development.
NDDC Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Dr Samuel Ogbuku, praised Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, for the support extended to the agency. He said, “I have always said that NDDC is not a government but an interventionist agency in the Niger Delta region. We will always achieve more if we partner with state governments. I thank the Bayelsa State governor. This shows that in Bayelsa State, we are united for development. We are united for peace and the development of our people.”
Governor Diri called for greater unity, emphasising Bayelsa’s unique status as Nigeria’s only homogeneous Ijaw state. “We are the only homogeneous Ijaw state in Nigeria. There are no other ethnic groups in Bayelsa State. We may have different clans, but we are all the same people, so we need to support one another. Politics should not divide us and tear us apart. Politics should be an avenue to attract development to Bayelsa State,” he said.
Diri also urged the NDDC to replicate the IDP camp in Ogbia across the other seven local government areas to alleviate the suffering caused by annual flooding.