The managing director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, has dismissed insinuations in some quarters that his tenure on the board of the commission will end this year.
Ogbuku blamed the insinuations on selfish detractors saying they were not happy that the current board members were working harmoniously to actualise President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
He clarified that members of the current Governing Board were screened and confirmed to serve for four years by the Senate.
Speaking at the NDDC headquarters in Port Harcourt, Ogbuku said the insinuations abridging his tenure were false and without any foundation.
He said that subject to the provision of section 4 of the NDDC Establishment Act, “a member of the board other than an ex-officio member, shall hold office for a term of four years at the first instance and may be reappointed for a further term of four years and no more.”
Ogbuku lamented that despite the efforts of the NDDC board and management to deliver quality projects and programmes, some persons with selfish motives were working behind the scenes to return the commission to the days of instability and non-performance.
He said that nothing would distract the NDDC board and management from holding fast to its mantra of transiting from transactions to transformation.
Ogbuku advised those scheming for a change of batons at NDDC to hold their horses as President Tinubu re-appointed him for another term of four years, adding that the region should be ready to see more people-oriented projects and programmes.
He assured that as soon as the 2024 budget of the commission was signed into law, the ongoing efforts to complete legacy projects would gain momentum.
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He said that the plan in the budget was to raise N1tn from development and commercial banks for the completion of legacy projects spread across the Niger Delta region.
Ogbuku explained that the legacy projects were regional roads, bridges, electricity projects, school buildings, hospitals, shore reclamation and protection, among others.
He also outlined recent initiatives of the Board, including the Niger Delta Stakeholders’ Summit, which he said was a culmination of other engagements with the youth groups and women.
He assured that the resolutions of the summit would inform future actions, noting that the communique would be presented to President Tinubu.
Speaking on the NDDC Healthcare programme, which catered for the needs of rural communities, Ogbuku said that the recent free medical outreaches across the nine states of the region, were successful and that there was a plan for holding the event biannually.
He said that the commission had acquired and distributed 13 ambulances to regional hospitals in response to a cholera outbreak and was working to secure more ambulances and cholera vaccines to prevent further incidents.
In the education sector, the NDDC boss highlighted the Foreign Post-Graduate Scholarship Programme of the commission, noting that 2,323 students in the region had so far benefited from it.
He said: “We have released the initial funds for beneficiaries of the 2024/2025 scholarship programme. In response to the rising costs of foreign education, we are considering offering local undergraduate scholarships.”
The NDDC boss assured that the era of not having data or evidence of projects and programmes was gone, adding the current Board and Management of the Commission had adopted strategies to showcase its activities.