President Buhari breaks his silence on the NDDC saga, orders speedy and coordinated investigation into allegations of corruption

President Buhari has broken his silence concerning the saga playing out at the Niger Delta Development Commission NDDC.

A statement from the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, says the President is ”witnessing the unfolding drama, which includes attacks and counter-attacks between and around persons, institutions, and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), and has expressed his strong determination to get to the root of the problem undermining the development of the Niger Delta and its peoples in spite of enormous national resources voted year after year for this singular purpose.”

Garba said the President has directed that auditing firms and investigative agencies working in collaboration with National Assembly Committees to resolve the challenges in the NDDC must initiate actions in a time-bound manner and duly inform the Presidency of the actions being taken.

”The President also directed timely sharing of information and knowledge in a way to speedily assist the administration to diagnose what had gone wrong in the past and what needs to be done to make corrections in order to return the NDDC to its original mandate of making life better for people in Niger Delta.

President Buhari said the administration wants to bring about “rapid, even and sustainable development to the region.”

The President gave firm assurance that his administration would put in place a transparent and accountable governance framework, not only in the NDDC but in all other institutions of government.” the statement in part reads
The Minister of Niger Delta Affair, Godswill Akpabio, and the former Managing Director of the Commission, Joy Nunieh, have been at loggerheads after she accused him of embezzling funds meant for the development of the region. The Interim Management Committee of the Commission has also been having hard times with the House of Representatives Committee investigating allegations of corruption in the Commission.