The Senate confirmed the appointment of 15 nominees as members of the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) on Tuesday, 5th November 2019. This followed the receipt of President Buhari’s letter read on the floor of the Senate on Tuesday, 29th October 2019, requesting that 16 nominees be confirmed. However, one of the nominees, Joy Yimebe Nunieh, who is also the Chairperson of the NDDC interim Board, did not appear before the Senate for screening, resulting in the Senate withholding her confirmation.
The new board is yet to take over the affairs of the agency, two months after confirmation. It will be recalled that Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe and former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu had raised concerns over the fate of the new board, in the light of the activities of the interim board in charge of the affairs of the agency. To this end, Senate President, Ahmad Lawan had directed the new members to take over the affairs of the agency immediately, as the law setting up the NDDC does not recognise an interim arrangement once a board is constituted. He also stated that the confirmation of new members vitiated any existing structure and underscored the need for proper oversight on the NDDC, recalling that President Buhari had called for a forensic audit into the finances of the agency.