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…As Commission gets N300bn for development of N’Delta in 2024 budget
Emma Ovundah, Port Harcourt
The Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, has revealed that it has a total of 953 abandoned projects in Rivers State alone.
Rivers State Representative on the Board of the NDDC, Chief Tony Okocha made the revelation on Tuesday during an interactive session with traditional rulers in the state, at the Rivers State Council of Traditional Rulers (RSCTR), Port Harcourt.
Okocha said they were at the Council to notify the traditional rulers of their plans and also receive royal blessings from the monarchs.
He said the present NDDC Board led by Dr. Samuel Ogbuku is making relentless efforts to change the negative trajectory about the Commission over the years.
He said: “It was the decision of the Board that we will lead a different example. We have started the process of a change, which also conforms with Mr. President’s Renewed Hope Agenda for Nigeria.
“In my study, it was clear to me that Rivers State is number two, in terms of states that have abandoned projects. Rivers State has 953 abandoned NDDC projects. These projects are dotted and around the nooks and crannies of the state.
“We thought we could open up this interaction to ask ourselves and indeed ask our fathers, what happened? Because what happened was before we came. We are barely two months old. So, what happened? Why are these projects there uncompleted?
“My investigation again showed three things. The first is that some of these projects were abandoned because of the freighting nature of the NDDC Board membership, that some managing directors or boards come, they award their own contracts.
“One of the things that had bedevilled this developmental stride is the inconsistency of government. Three months down the line, a board is set up and after three months, the same board is dissolved. Within the period they existed, they would have awarded contracts to people. Sometimes, people take their own money, go to the field and don’t get their monies paid.
”Chief Tony Okocha who promised to supervise projects that will have direct bearing on the lives of the people, promote education, improve health care of Rivers people, and also vowed to always protect the interest of Rivers people and defend the rights of the state.
Also speaking, the Executive Director of Finance and Administration, EDFA, of the Commission, Hon. Boma Iyaye, assured of improved development in the Niger Delta region noting that the NDDC received N300 billion in allocation from the 2024 appropriation act recently signed into law by President Bola Tinubu.
He also assured the Royal Fathers that 2014 would be a better year for the Niger Delta region.
He said, “The Federal Government has approved N300 billion for the Niger Delta region. That is a very serious leap from what it used to be. We used to be in the region of N109 billion for the entire region, but in 2024, it has moved from about N100 billion to N300 billion.
“It means more money for the states, more money for Rivers State. And the board and management, in their wisdom, are trying to see how states will get higher allocations, especially the big states. So we are voting whopping sums for development in these states”.
He pointed out that Rivers State, as a major source of national revenue, must get its fair share of development based on the agreed formula.
“Rivers State, as has been said, is one of the major producers of revenue that we share in this country. If you put the other states together, the entire Niger Delta region produces about 80–90% of the entire revenue that accrues to our dear country, and so the region is very important.
“Nobody will toy with it, and no government or administration will toy with the Niger Delta region. And that is why you can see that the President, Bola Tinubu, thought it important to immediately appoint the board for the NDDC,” Iyaye stated.
Earlier in his remarks, the Chairman, Rivers State Council of Traditional Rulers, Ohna Sergeant Awuse, thanked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the quality of persons he appointed to the NDDC Board.
He expressed his gratitude to the Rivers NDDC representative and his team for the visit, noting that it was the first of its kind to the Council since the inception of NDDC, and blessed him for the show of respect and recognition to members of the council, praying to God to help him succeed in the office.
