NDDC : UNFOUNDED POLITICAL BLACKMAIL AGAINST IMC WON'T STOP THE FORENSIC AUDIT AS ORDERED BY PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI.( Part one)~Vincent Oshiagwu

Written by :

Vincent Oshiagwu. 

Let me begin by stating unequivocally that the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC was established in the Year 2000 and since then, over five Trillion naira argueably have been pumped into the Commission with nothing on ground to reflect such lump sum.

Obviously, some greedy political thieves may have converted the said huge fund into personal money and nobody is raising a voice but we must get to the root of all that through the forensic audit whether anyone likes it or not.

The forensic audit in my opinion has come to stay until the committee conclude their noble assignment. I support in total the President's bold move and noble idea which was premeditated at ensuring a perfect accounting of the Commission geared towards a re-organized management structure for effective operation in the interest of the Oil producing states of Nigeria, the Niger Delta region. 

Sadly and most unfortunately, some persons openly criticized and condemned the move to the extent  one now wonders why the hues and cries from some quarters to the level that the mere mention of the forensic audit sends tension rising anywhere in the region, especially within the political bracket. Some politicians suddendly developed cold feet and became dead-scared of the outcome of the NDDC Forensic Audit and now doing everything practically and politically possible, including blackmail to ensure it does not see the light of the day.

The president in line with his antigraft war has chosen to rejig the commission after taking a cursory study of the rot and high profile looting alongside petitions bothering on fraud in the Niger Delta Development  Commission, NDDC. He decided that it will be worthwhile to know the history of funding of the commission, so as to chart a course for the future. This has today resulted in the forensic audit of the 19 years of the commission. In a sane clime, such good intention will be applauded.

For example, several comments, narratives and press releases have in the last couple of weeks greeted the affairs of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC and the subsequent probing of the Interim Management Committee, IMC by the two chambers of the National Assembly, many of whom, themselves were fingered to be involved in the rot in the NDDC. Many too, who think the forensic audit can only be done over their dead bodies are unrelentedly fighting the audit committee and now see members of the Interim Management Committee as a political obstacle that should be crushed and removed at all cost before 2023, hence, hellbent on giving the audit committee some terrible names. 

At first, it was the allegation of a missing 40 billion naira which the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC management openly denied any of such lump sum missing from its confer. At some point, the Minister of the Niger Delta Ministry, former governor of Akwa Ibom state and one time two term senator, Godswill Akpabio was openly criticized for backing the Interim Management, IMC. Series of allegations of corrupt practices were levelled against senator Akpbio all in a bid to submerge and drown the audit to ensure the Interim Management Committee, IMC fails. 

The allegations against the IMC, range from awards of imaginary contracts running into millions of naira and many more which political analysts and observers saw as blackmails, cooked up lies and swiftly threw into the trash bin for lack of weight and evidence. In summary, the allegations against the IMC is unsubstantiated and borne out of fear of being exposed. Since then, the war of words between the two groups has continued to rage. In fact, it provoked national uproar. Out of fear that the Acting  Executive Director, EDP, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh, a man of truth and impeccable character will always speak truth to power and expose criminal elements that placed the Commission in ruins without fear or favour , corruption began to fight back just to truncate the forensic audit. One thing, they failed. 

As the audit-provoked war raged, the NDDC came up with list of companies that were made to be paid by the commission on pressure from the NASS committee leaders. The audit was given the tone of a witch-hunting exercise and those who raped the Commission dry and silly since it's inception became so afraid of being called to give account of their stewardship. Many may have whispered that such communication style could attract more detractors and rather kill the audit scheme instead of enhance it. The question is why kill an audit intended to account for the stewardship of those who mismanaged the Commission for the past 19 years and  better the lives of the people of the region?

To be continued.