Despite President Muhammadu Buhari’s stated fight against corruption, it would appear that the country’s corruption crisis remains and may indeed be worsening. The on-going public hearing on the activities of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) by the House of Representatives Committee on NDDC has exposed the failing of the administration of President Buhari to make any meaningful headway. Testimonies at the National Assembly and the spectacle of the interim Managing Director of the Commission collapsing and apparently fainting from the barrage of questions by House of Representatives members, tells a sad story of the squandering and mismanagement of public funds. The NDDC which was set up in 2000 to help with the problem of underdevelopment in the States classified as Niger Delta has unfortunately earned a deserved reputation of drainpipe on public resources. Ranging from overinflated contracts to unexecuted contracts and outright pillaging of its resources, the NDDC has woefully failed to deliver on its promise.
The recent travails of the Commission began when President Muhammadu Buhari ordered a forensic audit into its operations in October 2019. Following this, a three-man Interim Management Committee (IMC) was appointed with Joy Nunieh as Acting Managing Director of the NDDC, to oversee the affairs of the Commission, while the inauguration of Board Members of the Commission announced in August 2019, was put on hold. In February 2020, President Buhari approved the addition of two members to the IMC and the appointment of Kemebradikumo Pondei as Acting Managing Director of the NDDC, to replace Nunieh, who was relieved of her position on ground of insubordination to the Niger Delta Affairs Minister, Godswill Akpabio.
In May 2020, the Senate commenced investigations into the financial details of the NDDC, including the expenditure of over N22billion under the watch of the immediate past Managing Director of the NDDC, Joy Nunieh. In response, the Commission made counter allegations, that NDDC contracts had been awarded to several lawmakers. Refuting allegations of misappropriation, Nunieh stated that no transaction was made in the Commission without the approval of the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Mr. Akpabio. This spurred a barrage of allegations between the former Managing Director and the Minister and culminated in a siege to Nunieh’s residence in Port Harcourt by security operatives in the early hours of Thursday, July 16 until Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike intervened and gave her refuge in the Government House in Port Harcourt.
The IMC is currently before the relevant committees of the Senate and House of Representatives for investigative hearing, to explain a shortfall of N143billion in its 2019 budget. Some of the allegations plaguing the Commission include non-payment of fees and upkeep allowances to beneficiaries of the NDDC Overseas Scholarship scheme and disbursement of funds to staff of the Commission as COVID-19 relief package. At an investigative hearing session of the NDDC House Committee on July 16, where the management of the Commission was supposed to provide explanations for discrepancies in the details its 2019 budget, Acting Managing Director of the Commission, Kemebradikumo Pondei refused to make any presentation, accused the Chairman of the committee, Tunji-Ojo of corrupt practices and walked out of the meeting. This caused the latter to recuse himself from presiding over the hearing at the resumption of the session on Monday, July 20. The Deputy Chairman of the committee presided over the session and led the investigations. However, things took a dramatic turn when Mr. Pondei, who had been struggling to provide answers to the questions posed to him by the committee suddenly fainted. This led to a thirty-minute break before the session resumed for the questioning of the Niger Delta Affairs Minister, Godswill Akpabio.
Observers are curious as to how the issues surrounding the affairs of the NDDC will be resolved. Issues of accountability and transparency are not peculiar to the NDDC, as the operations of several other government agencies and parastatals are characterised by impropriety, discrepancies and lack of transparency.