NDDC: The feeling in Niger Delta region is that of betrayal, anger —Nwauju, Spokesperson, NDRA

Mr. Darlington Nwauju, from Omuma in Rivers State is the spokesperson Niger Delta Rights Advocates (NDRA), a group which said its job is “to escalate the issues around the development of the Niger Delta region via intellectual militancy”. In this interview by SAM NWAOKO, he speaks on the issues around the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and the alleged fraud in the agency. Excerpts:

How much success would you say your organisation has achieved vis a vis its set objectives?

We believe that it’s not yet uhuru as to say we have succeeded. As long as we still have huge infrastructure gap, as long as there are still a vast majority living under the poverty line, as long as the future of the youths of Nigeria is not guaranteed through meaningful and sustainable human capital development plan, we are not yet there. Thus, the road to success for our group is still under construction.

What challenges is your group facing in its quest to meet its obligations and achieve set objectives? 

Our major challenge is the fact that several briefcase organisations exist that open shop just to do some quick-fixes without a futuristic projection. So, a lot of the time, we are faced with explaining our real intentions and the fact that there is no moneybags or external funding driving the group. We believe that as results trickle in as a direct effect of our struggles, people will appreciate our objectives the more.

You were at the National Assembly recently. Why were you there and what’s the result of your Abuja visit? 

Our visit to the National Assembly is a protest against the ignoble running of the affairs of the region’s special purpose development vehicle – NDDC. Secondly, we went to point out the fact that governance objectives, accountability, transparency and focus have largely been absent in that agency. Part of the result of that visit is the fact that we were able to gain first hand information from strategic federal institutions like the CBN, Accountant General of the Federation, Auditor General of the Federation, Bureau of Public Procurement on infractions and administrative lacunas the present interim management committee IMC of the NDDC, led by Professor K.D. Pondei had copiously committed in the cause of its short stay in office.

The consideration of many Nigerians is that NDDC probe by the National Assembly has not been as satisfactory. What’s your group’s assessment of the probe so far? 

We cannot play the role of publicists for the national assembly (NASS). However, we must concede that Sections 62, 88 and 89 of the 1999 constitution (as amended) give the NASS powers to check wastages in all agencies listed under the constitution which are also referred to as statutory agencies/corporations/commissions. So, the NASS intervention is within the ambit of law. Let me also add that the NASS aggregates the voices of over 150 million Nigerians, and so, it would be strange if the NASS does not show more than a passing interest in what is happening in a critical government agency like the NDDC. Finally, we see the NASS probe as purely complementary to the forensic audit ordered by President Buhari. For us, if the NASS had not given us the opportunity of a public hearing, we would not have updated the existing body of knowledge we have of this all important agency. For example, the discovery and confirmation of extra-budgetary expenditure to the tune of N4.923billon, is food for thought.

What do you think is wrong with NDDC? What solutions would you prescribe for the commission now and in the long term? 

The thing that is wrong is the abandonment of a workable regional development master plan. Every board or management that comes veers into generating a caricature of programmes in order to stimulate award of contracts at the expense of the suffering people of the region. Second, the Act governing the agency fails to clearly define the roles of the two executive directors outside the managing director, thus, giving room to unnecessary schisms amongst the three key officials of the agency which most times affect the operations of the NDDC. Our suggested solution is the immediate dissolution of the Prof Pondei-led management team to allow for an impartial team that will supervise the forensic audit of the agency. By the time the report of the forensic exercise is out, the executive arm of government will now understand the causal factors of the agency’s failures and then take steps to plug all the loopholes in the interest of the masses of the region who bear the brunt of the oil and gas exploration in the region. Importantly, the federal government should defer to the Establishment Act 2000 which prescribes how the agency should be run.

Some people are of the opinion that there shouldn’t be a commission or agency to achieve the development of the Niger Delta region, that Lagos and Abuja didn’t need one to drive their development. How do you see this contention? 

They may be making a point, but the peculiarity of the region coupled with its abundant natural resources necessitated calls for a special purpose vehicle to fast-track the even and equal development of the region. The violence that greeted the years of government neglect equally gave birth to the NDDC. We believe that if governments before now had paid close attention to the report of the Willinks Commission, the nation would not have lost the human and material resources it put together just to quell the militancy in the region.

What are the feelers you are getting from the grassroots in the Niger Delta region? How do the deprived and suffering people react to the probe and the revelations? 

The feeling is that of betrayal and anger. How do you expect especially the youths to feel when they heard radio jingles of COVID-19 palliative allowances to the youths worth N270m and they see it as audio money; only to now hear from the investigations that a massive N1.32billion was shared amongst the IMC and staff as COVID-19 allowances? How would they feel that their brothers and sisters who got the NDDC foreign scholarships are stranded in strange lands while the officials paid themselves a total of N85.6million as travel allowances to attend graduation ceremonies in the UK?

Some people are of the belief that the probe by the National Assembly came as a result of disagreement or fight among the elite that are benefiting from the sleaze in the NDDC. How do you feel about this contention? 

Since no member of my organisation is amongst the elite who probably may have benefitted from those contracts, I or my group cannot delve into analysing any class struggle. Our interest remains the long-suffering masses of the region.

President Muhammadu Buhari in October last year announced his plan to launch a forensic audit into the NDDC finances and some people think this is why the National Assembly instituted a diversionary probe. What do you think is going on, from the point of view of your organisation? 

Let me reiterate that we see the NASS probe as complimentary. Let’s look at this simple analogy: If you have a regular medical check and there was a sudden emergency, would you ask to be left alone till your next appointment with your doctor? All emergencies anywhere in the world must be treated as such and the situation with the NDDC is akin to an emergency. There is no way the probe of the months under the current NDDC IMC can vitiate the forensic audit covering 2000-2019, especially when members of the IMC had deviated from the core mandate for their appointment and chosen to embark on extra-budgetary expenditures.

Where do you see all of what’s going on leading us… Do you see sincerity in the entire probe by the Federal Government and National Assembly? 

What we are seeing will inform the masses the more on how, who and where their money is. In times past, a lot of such issues were swept under the carpet. We never heard of forensic audit until President Buhari came on board. For us, the revelations will expose the real enemies of the Niger Delta region and the implementation of the various reports will be for the executive arm of government to make.

Your group called for the dissolution of the Professor Pondei-led interim management committee of NDDC. What will you do if your call is ignored?

We have an unshaken belief in the integrity of President Buhari to not condone acts of corruption no matter who is involved. We very well know that turning a blind eye to such shameful acts of mismanagement and misapplication of public funds will give a black eye to the anti-corruption posture of the present administration. So we will follow our call patiently because we believe it is a legitimate and patriotic call. Our call cannot be ignored because of the preponderance of evidences against the current IMC.

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