The Senate Committee on Niger Delta led by Senator Peter Nwaoboshi met on Wednesday with the Interim Management Committee of the Niger Delta Development Commission.
The IMC led by Dr Joy Yimebe Nunieh came on the invitation of the Senate Committee to defend its 2019 Budget.
Tribune Online checks revealed that there was a cold war between the Senate and the NDDC IMC as the former was not comfortable with the position of the Presidency which refused to accord recognition to the agency Board which has Dr Pius Odubu and Chief Bernard Okumagba as Chairman and Managing Director of the 15 member Board earlier screened by the Senate.
But in a letter addressed to the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan which was read on the floor of the Red Chamber last year, President Muhammadu Buhari premised his decision to put the newly constituted board on hold, pending the conclusion of the ongoing forensic audit of the Niger Delta intervention agency.
At the session with the IMC yesterday, Senator Nwaoboshi Committee said the interim management was invited to defend its budget. He said his Committee was in support of the forensic audit of the agency which was the initiative of President Buhari.
He said: ”The Senate supports the ongoing forensic auditing going on in NDDC and by extension not against the IMC running the agency now.
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”We are here to consider and approve the agency’s budget proposals for 2019 as forwarded to the Senate by President Muhammadu Buhari in December last year.
” However, in doing that, we shall be guided by policy thrust of the government on budget proposals, implementation and performances. ”
Senator Nwaoboshi insisted that the Committee would not give approval for the agency budget until it was given detailed information on the performance status of projects in previous years.
The managing director of the IMC who apparently was rattled by the demand of the Committee pleaded for more time to meet the demands of the Senate.
Dr Nunieh said the documents would be made available latest by next week Tuesday.
She assured the Committee that his agency remained guided by Muhammadu Buhari’s template of transparency and accountability on all projects executions.
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