By: Admin
Five days after she was asked to appear before the Senate Committee on Public Accounts with necessary documents relating to transactions in the commission, the Acting Managing Director of Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Enyia Akwagaga, has failed to do so.
Ms Akwagaga was summoned by the committee for investigative hearing relating to the award of contracts on the desilting and clearing of water hyacinth in the Niger Delta region awarded by the NDDC under their emergency programme.
The committee chairman, Mathew Urghohide, had said N2.5 billion was budgeted for the project but the commission spent over N65 billion.
Ms Akwagaga who was supposed to appear before the committee last Thursday, had sent a representative who told the panel she was ill.
She had asked for more time to present as well as defend the said documents – which was granted.
However, appearing before the committee, the NDDC boss only came with documents for the budget of clearing of water hyacinth which the committee chairman described as “insufficient”.
He queried the commission for not presenting the required documents.
He then instructed NDDC to reappear before the committee on October 30 with all the said documents.
PHSpectator recalls that President Muhammadu Buhari had earlier ordered a forensic audit of the operations of the NDDC from 2001 to 2019.
Buhari said what is presently on the ground in the South-south region does not justify the huge resources that have been made available to the organisation.
Although the president admitted that developing the Niger Delta area required enormous resources compared to other parts of the country with firmer lands, he, however, said he would wait for the report of the audit before deciding on the next line of action regarding the organisation.
