Category: Niger Delta

Francis Ndimkoha

The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) was established in the 3rd Quarter of the Year 2000, under the Act No.6 of the National Assembly which provides for the repeal of the defunct Oil Mineral Producing Areas Commission Decree 1998. This bold move was geared towards a re-organized management structure for an effective Commission by the Federal Government, in favour of the Oil producing areas of the Nigeria, otherwise referred to as the Niger Delta region.

The agitation for resource control by the Niger Delta region which has resulted in the 13 percent derivation fund, paid directly to the Niger Delta States, is obviously not commensurate to tackle the ecological challenges and environmental degradation which is the Siamese twins of oil exploration. The NDDC was therefore envisioned to stand in the gap, as a direct presence of the Federal Government in the region.

After 19 years of the establishment of NDDC, it is worrisome, that the vision of the founding fathers has remained far-fetched, rather, the Commission became a prisoner of sorts, to vested interests who had turned it into an Automatic Teller Machine (ATM). The annual budget of NDDC, which runs into billions of Naira has not made deeply felt impact in the lives of the people of the region. It turns out that a few people have become billionaires by constantly calling the shots in the Commission. Nobody dares ask any questions, else, one would have dared to ask how NDDC awards contracts for the supply of desks and chairs, to schools in the region, to the same contractor, at over N3bn annually. There is evidence that this annual contract is never executed. Rather, the contractor delivers a couple of desks and chairs to his own warehouse, and uses same to service similar contracts from State Governments in the Niger Delta region.

The rot in the Commission had eaten to deep that despite billions of Naira allocated to meaningful projects, only activities like “Training”, “Desilting”, “Solar Power” and “Workshop” get quick attention, and gulp huge sums of money, like the N6.4 billion that generated controversy, sometime ago. The IMC of NDDC reportedly received a request for payment of some phantom skills acquisition programme, to the tune of N3.842bn, representing about 60 percent of the total sum of N6.404bn. The refusal of the IMC to honour such spurious request, it is believed, is partly the reason for the numerous petitions and “sudden” probe.

President Mohammadu Buhari chose to rejig the Commission after several scandals and petitions bothering on fraud, but 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 resulted in the Forensic Audit of the 19 years of the Commission, which, of course, includes the first 4 years of the Buhari administration.

No sooner had the Audit began, than fireworks rented the air, in the guise of petitions. A barrage of petition has inundated the Presidency, all in an attempt to stop the audit.

When it seemed like the petition wouldn’t yield the desired result, the sponsors of the faceless group of petitioners resorted to using another arm of the Government, to stop the President. This time, they resorted to the National Assembly!

It may sound funny, but how come the National Assembly wants to probe, as a matter of urgency, the Prof. Kemebradikumo Daniel Pondei led Interim Management Committee (IMC), charged by the President to run the affairs of the Commission during the period of the Forensic Audit? One would have expected that any lapses stemming from the audit, would be addressed upon completion of the audit but the haste to initiate an audit of the supervisors of the Audut looms a garb of a well-conceived distraction attempt.

Obviously, the forensic audit will expose contract padding and duplication, multiple contracts by selected folder companies, shady and underhand dealings of colluding Civil Servants, including those who resort to petitions when affected by routine transfer, from the “juicy” Headquarters among other anomalies.

It appears that the bold move by the Minister for Niger Delta Affairs, Sen. Godswill Akpabio to usher in a new lease of life at the Harold Dappa Biriye building, Headquarters of the NDDC, by redeploying some of the old hands there, meant a threat of extinction to those who have, over the years, made brisk business with those contacts. The uproar that trailed the transfer is not ordinary. The outcry has dwarfed that of a baby hastily withdrawn from the mother’s breast!

It is important to note, at this juncture, that the Civil Servants are just small fishes, in the big river of things happening in NDDC. They are, though, indispensable in the happenings, but small fishes, nonetheless.

It is alleged in some quarters that the major clog in the wheels of progress of the Niger Delta region are those in whose hands it is to create the enabling laws for the success of the NDDC. And as an Ex-lawmaker, Sen. Akpabio is obviously bringing to bear, his wealth of experience in the National Assembly, which only complements his experience as an Ex- Governor of a critical oil producing state in Nigeria, Akwa Ibom State. No wonder he quickly cancelled the consultancy contracts for the collection of statutory payments of 3 percent of the annual budget of oil companies in the region. These contracts which were being handled by Candour Capital Limited as well as Starline, was a huge surge pipe for siphoning billions of naira accruing to the NDDC, which was paid to these contractors as their “commission.” The companies are believed to be owned by former and serving Legislators, Politicians, albeit through fronts. The cancellation of these contracts certainly unsettled the real owners of the companies, and so, the move to probe the IMC, while they are yet to complete their 19 years audit, needs no further explanation. It is what it is; a distraction!

Apart from these consultancy contracts, most of these legislators, especially those heading the various Committees on NDDC and Niger Delta, in the National Assembly, allegedly have several funny contracts, to their name, most of which are fully paid for, but never executed. A certain Senator from Delta state and a House of Reps member from Ondo state were fingered in this regard. Yet these contacts are an annual feature in the budget of the Commission. These are among the various infractions in the Commission that the forensic audit was meant to unravel.

Again, it is worrisome that the NDDC, has after 19 years, not been able to complete her Headquarters complex, in Rivers state. Thus, NDDC, has remained a tenant, at the Harold Dappa Biriye House, where they were paying a whooping N300m annually, even when evidence shows that the building was a donation by the Rivers State Government under Dr Peter Odili, a decision that is yet to be rescinded! It is a matter of probe for the Forensic Auditors to ascertain who is fraudulently collecting this money. This amount, ordinarily, should be a reason to hasten the completion of the Headquarters, to stop the bleeding of scarce resources, but how can that be when there are people gladly fishing in the troubled waters?
This is also the situation in most state offices of the NDDC. The Imo State office of the Commission,
for example, which is located along Owerri-Port Harcourt road, near the Appeal Court Complex, has not seen any activity in years. It was abandoned on the first floor. Who knows if checks may reveal that provision is made in the annual budget of the Commission for this project.

This piece should not be misconstrued as an attempt to shield the IMC from probe. No! The IMC is peopled by equally falling humans, who must, by nature, have their flaws. It therefore means that they’re not foolproof. But it is only reasonable to allow them complete the very daunting task of a holistic audit of the Commission, after which their own tenure will be scrutinized. This will ensure that there is no compromise and that the very wonderful idea of a forensic audit is not botched.

To this end, the various studs thrown at the IMC, only gives one primary indication; some people are definitely not comfortable with the reality of a forensic audit.

So, who is afraid of the probe?

Is it the IMC that has spent only 6 months in office? What harm would have been dobe in 6 months, that ‘urgently’ needs to be addressed, so urgently, that the forensic audit of 19 years should be thrown under the bus?

Is it possible that the 6 months old IMC has seen more funds, in a COVID-19 era of crashed oil prices, than the last 19 years, some of which were an era oil boom?

One can easily deduce that someone, somewhere is dead-scared of the outcome of the NDDC Forensic Audit, and can do anything to make sure it does not succeed. These faceless enemies of the region must be stopped and the Forensic Audit concluded in record time, for the benefit of the beleaguered people of the Niger Delta region.

It is no gainsaying that Sen. Godswill Akpabio and the IMC need the support of all the Niger Deltans, at this time, to help stop the NDDC cabal that has taken into their custody the collective patrimony of the people of the region.

President Muhammadu Buhari must not allow himself to be misled into endorsing such an attempt at undermining his good intentions to sanitize the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and by implication, the Niger Delta region.

Francis Udoka Ndimkoha, is the National Publicity Secretary Citizens Quest For Truth Initiative

Okodili Ndidi, Abuja

The Citizens’ Quest for Truth Initiative, a Non Governmental Organisation championing right leadership and development in the Niger Delta region, has raised the alarm over alleged plot to scuttle the forensic audit of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to cover the involvement of some politicians in the sleeze that bedeviled the Commission.

it also alleged that those behind the plot may be scheming to incite President Muhammadu Buhari to scrap the NDDC.

The group insisted that the recent inquest by National Assembly into the N40 billion allegedly misapproprieted by the Interim Management Committee is merely diversionary, adding that the move is suspicious, especially now that the Forensic Audit of the Commission has commenced.

In a statement by its President and Founder, Oby Ndukwe, the group argued that “those asking for the records cannot claim innocence over the sleaze that has been going on in the Commission”.

It said: “The truth is that there are sinister plots to scuttle the audit and possibly get the President to scrap the
NDDC”.

It alleged further that those behind the plot to derail the forensic audit are equally scheming to tarnish the image of the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, for insisting on auditing the accounts of the NDDC since it was created 19 years ago.

“From my findings, Akpabio is like a marked man in the field of play. He left PDP for the APC and that of course earned him more enemies in his former party. He was the Senate Minority leader and a key memberof the PDP Caucus.

READ ALSO: EFCC re-arraigns ex-NDDC director for N3.6b ‘fraud’ 

“And who is controlling the Committees on NDDC in the Senate? PDP of course. So, there is a correlation between the allegations and frustrations he is facing in a bid to turn around the fortunes of the region especially at the NDDC.

“Those who have held on to NDDC as a cash cow are not letting go especially where it is obvious that the Forensic Audit as ordered by the President is going to expose them.

“The easiest way to discredit a political leader who is performance driven is to paint him with the tar of fraud and corruption.

“The N40bn inquest of the Interim Management Committee is merely diversionary. We should be asking why now that the Forensic Auditors have commenced work? What are they afraid of?

“The President has ordered that the audit covers a 19 year period from inception of the Commission. So why is NASS limiting theirs to just 6 months of the IMC?, the statement read in part.

It added: “The Senate Committee Chairman on NDDC, Peter Nwaoboshi has been there and don’t forget that out of the 19 year
period, his party, PDP supervised the NDDC for 15 years.

“The House Committee Chairman on NDDC is not from the oil producing part of Ondo State, yet, he has a 17km road split into 11 at N950m each, totalling N10. 4bn.

“So how can they sit on a matter they are involved in. Focusing on the 6 months of the IMC is only a ploy to get the IMC sacked, since the NASS was never in support of the IMC from the time the Joi Nunieh team was appointed. It’s all politics”.

By Sanni Onogu, Abuja

 

The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, on Thursday, said he welcomes the imminent probe of the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) over alleged spending of N40 billion in three months.

The National Assembly had accused the IMC of the NDDC of allegedly spending the amount without due process.

The Senate and the House of Representatives have raised separate Committees to investigate the matter.

However, the Chief Press Secretary to the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Anietie Ekong, in a statement in Abuja, said that Senator Akpabio as the minister supervising the agency is “upbeat about the plan to probe the NDDC as he has no skeleton in his cupboard.”

Ekong added that Senator Akpabio “finds it extremely insulting” for his name to be dragged into what is “obviously a smear campaign.”

He noted that “in response to the campaign of calumny, the Commission had explained that the Interim Management Committee has only approved the total payment of Eighteen Billion Naira (N18, 000,000, 000) for contractual claims.”

He insisted that the probe of the “Commission along with the ongoing forensic audit will expose those who have used their exalted positions over the years to fleece the NDDC through fully paid contracts which were never executed and other forms of contact racketeering.”

Read Also: NDDC’s IMC under probe over N40b

In the statement titled: “Re: National Assembly probes alleged N40b corruption in NDDC” Ekong said: “The attention of the Honourable Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio has been drawn to sensational headlines about an alleged N40 billion corruption in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

“We wish to state categorically that under the supervision of Senator Akpabio, there has been no corruption in the NDDC.

“It is obvious that there have been an upsurge in attacks on the Commission, the Interim Management Committee and the Honourable Minister through spurious and unsubstantiated allegations since the commencement of forensic audit of the Commission.

“Unfortunately, these phantom allegations have found their ways into the hallowed chambers of the National Assembly.

“In response to the campaign of calumny, the Commission had explained that the Interim Management Committee has only approved the total payment of Eighteen Billion Naira (N18, 000,000, 000) for contractual claims.

“The payments to contractors are all payments for contracts awarded by previous administrations, especially the payment for contracts below N50 million.

“The present management has not awarded any single contract. So where is the bogey N40 billion coming from?

“It is instructive that the Commission under the supervision of Senator Akpabio has devised a strategy by which only duly verified and inspected contracts with photo and video evidences are recommended and approved for payments.

“The Interim Management Committee has been very prudent in managing the affairs of the interventionist agency.

“The interest of Senator Akpabio has been to ensure that the NDDC completes its headquarters building started since the days of the defunct Oil Minerals Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC), the contract of which was awarded with the approval of the Federal Executive Council many years before Senator Akpabio became the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs.

“Following the recent Presidential approval, the NDDC is also providing intervention support to complement efforts of the Federal and State governments against further spread of COVID-19 in the nine states of the Niger Delta.

“Senator Akpabio is upbeat about the plan to probe the NDDC as he has no skeleton in his cupboard.

“In fact, he will welcome a public hearing beamed live for all Nigerians to see. The probe of the Commission along with the ongoing forensic audit will expose those who have used their exalted positions over the years to fleece the NDDC through fully paid contracts which were never executed and other forms of contact racketeering.

“While we await the probe if carried through, we find it extremely insulting for Senator Akpabio’s name to be dragged into what is obviously a smear campaign.

“The general public should not be misled by spurious claims. The NDDC under the supervision of Senator Akpabio will not be distracted, neither will the ongoing forensic audit of the Commission be derailed through blackmail and intimidation.

“The Minister will remain focused on the mandate of President Muhammadu Buhari to reposition the Commission for sustainable development of the Niger Delta region.”

Mankind is fighting World War III or something worse. It is a dastardly unique world war. First of all, unlike World War I or World War II, the entire globe has had to go on lockdown -for months. Second of all, there’s been not one gun fired, not one bomb dropped, not one ballistic missile released.

Third of all, the enemy is a strange one. This time, it is not man fighting man. This war is waged on the human race by an unseen foe. The hydraheaded, solution-defying agent of death has two names.

Known either by its baptismal name, coronavirus, or interchangeably by its latter-day identity, covid-19, this virus has ravaged humanity. For the record, it sneaked in through Wuhan, China back in December, last year. At the time of piecing this together, the live updates by World Health Organisation (WHO) show that globally, there have been 3,822,951 coronavirus cases and out of that: 265,084 fatalities. This is the grim reality of our world, with each country and in most cases each part of a country fighting the war its own way.

In Nigeria, the so-called giant of Africa which operates like a dwarf, the situation is even grimmer. With failing infrastructure across all (but especially medical) sectors, falling revenue, rising poverty, choking corruption, mounting anxiety, and an apathetic citizenry wallowing in untold ignorance or crass illiteracy or both, its covid-19 crisis is expectedly one-way traffic. Current news feeds by Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) say that the country now has 21,208 tests carried out, 3,145 confirmed cases, 2,508 active, 534 discharged, and 103 dead. Hope hangs in the balance, penduluming lazily and dreadfully.

Somewhere in the deep south of the country though, the sun seems to be rising and shining, brighter and brighter. Akwa Ibom state, world famous for its cosmopolitanism, compactness, and a people so highly hospitable to visitors as well as adventurous in travelling, has surprisingly kept its numbers incredibly low. NCDC records the state in good standing: 16 cases, four active, 10 discharged, two dead. The two unfortunate losses notwithstanding, the Akwa Ibom experience is pure magic, contextualised in the Nigeria macrocosm and vis-à-vis the very nature of the state and its people as enunciated above.

Clearly, Gov. Udom Emmanuel has the magic wand. That must be the reason many say he’s leading this war from the front lines. While that is true and right, it can also be argued that it is not complete and correct. Apart from leading this viral battle from the front lines, this first class accountant turned governor is doing so equally from the middle and from the rear.

In nearly five years of his stewardship, there’s been a deliberate tune-up of infrastructure (medical and otherwise) in the state. Except for primary healthcare which the administration was turning its attention to, just before the pandemic struck, the state boasts what might be the best secondary, tertiary and quaternary setups nationwide. World standard hospitals in Ituk Mbang -Uruan, Iquita -Oron, Ibiaku Ntok Okpo -Ikono (and others spread across the three senatorial districts) plus including Ibom Specialist in Uyo, the state capital, run by well trained personnel deploying top class facilities explain why the state looked prepared for covid-19. Without a doubt, this visionary governor put everything in place long before yesterday to secure the today and future of his state and people.

Added to the growing lists of roads and Ibom Air and sundry flagship achievements, Mr. Udom Emmanuel has secured his jurisdiction and compatriots from the front. Ditto, what he has done; economy-wise. So far, the state in his time has helped to bring about all of 18 industries and counting. Economic security plays a pivotal role in restraining disease spread.

Furthermore, the way the Akwa Ibom state chief executive has rallied and continues to mobilise and motivate his team, and all the heroes (medical workers, security agents, food dealers, journalists, transporters, etc.) in the front lines of this war -even staying up as late as 3am everyday to receive ad hoc briefings- speak to a leader who is not only totally in charge but also in touch. To understand that Mr. Emmanuel also leads the fight against covid-19 from the middle and from the back, one only need take a more critical second look at the surefooted measuredness with which this governor approaches decisions that have to do with the people. It took him sometime to declare a lockdown, more to extend it, and as soon as he could he relaxed it to secure the people if you like against mental and pocket depression; replacing it with an 8pm to 6am curfew -obviously to secure the people against petty banditry that seemed to have raised its ugly head during the lockdown.

Recently, while addressing Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in the state, the governor quieted and indeed won over critics who felt he was slow in taking some of those hard decisions. ‘Look, being governor doesn’t make me any special or better than every other Akwa Ibom person. Coronavirus doesn’t care if you’re governor. In taking a decision or building a facility such as the 300-bed isolation centre that should be ready in another fortnight, I take time to ensure it is the best for every person including me!’

That humanity or empathy is one of the fundamental ingredients missing in leadership in our continent. It is a thing of joy that somewhere off the Gulf of Guinea, a state governor is securing our bragging rights as a people who know what to do and how to do it. By commanding his team, and motivating everyone in the front lines of battling covid-19 and at the same time never for once losing touch with the people, Gov. Udom Emmanuel has provided leadership in front, in the middle and at the back. And, the people have risen in support as can be seen in the evolving success against coronavirus.

God bless Akwa Ibom State!

Michael BUSH
Uyo – Nigeria

By Mike Odiegwu, Port Harcourt

 

Repentant leaders of the defunct Movement for Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) have thrown their weight behind the position of President Muhammadu Buhari on the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

The ex-militant leaders under the auspices of Leadership, Peace and Cultural Development Initiative (LPCDI) said they were particularly happy with Buhari for refusing to yield to the campaigns of calumny against members of the IMC.

“We are in support of the President’s decision to extend the tenure of the Interim Management Committee of the Commission,” they said.

President of LPCD, Clifford Wilson, formerly known in the creeks as Pastor Reuben, said on Monday in Port Harcourt that the people of the Niger Delta region were happy with the extension of the tenure of the IMC led by Prof. Kemebradikumi Pondei.

He said: “We are happy with the manner in which Professor Kemebradikumi Pondei and his team are managing and running the intervention body and want to pass a vote of confidence in them. We have not seen any impropriety in their activities since they assumed office rather they have been doing everything within limited resources to provide succor to our people.”

Wilson lamented sponsored attacks against political office holders from the region and warned persons behind such wicked blackmails to sheathe their swords.

“We call on them to desist from the campaign of calumny and blackmail against political office holders from the Niger Delta region.

“They must learn to eschew bitterness and accommodate one another without throwing spanners in the works. We, as Niger Delta people, must learn to always support our own. No one is hundred per cent perfect but we shouldn’t drag them into opprobrium out of selfishness”, he said.

Wilson insisted that the ex-militant leaders were excited that Pondei and his team in NDDC remained focused despite the media attacks to ensure forensic audit of the commission as directed by President Buhari.

He lambasted selfish and myopic persons, who were fond of seeking financial gratification from office holders instead of working with them to develop the region.

He advised Pondei to maintain a good name he had earned over the years by ensuring the development of rural communities in the region.

He said ex-militant leaders would continue to work with the board of the NDDC to maintain the peace in the region.

One of the greatest things social science bequeathed to society is the institution of government. Governments provide the parameters for everyday behaviour for citizens and guarantees protection of lives and properties. The Civil Service is an intrinsic part of public sector, in fact its jewel. Good governance in the public sector is the corner stone for effective and efficient organizational performance and is underpinned by a number of accountability requirements. Plato, the Athenian philosopher of ancient Greece posited that governance is an art predicated on exact knowledge and should be conducted by philosopher kings or those with the highest and clearest discernment. That is why public service with its bureaucracies are characterized by fixed rules, discipline and proper conduct for productive service delivery. The system and structure for governance must therefore be supported by effective leadership and organizational culture.

It is in the light of this that most Nigerians read with amusement, yet disillusionment, the statement credited to Mr. Charles Odili, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Director of Corporate Affairs, that based on the advice of the lead consultants conducting the forensic audit of the finances of the commission, mandated by the President over seven months ago, that most key officials of the commission should proceed on compulsory leave and mandatory retirement.

The letter signed by the Ag. Executive Director of Finance & Administration states clearly that those affected are Directors/Heads of Departments that have held sensitive positions in the past and those that have disciplinary proceedings instituted or about to be instituted against them. The letter also states that those that have two years or below in service should mandatorily retire. It is quite unfortunate that civil servants, much like judicial officers cannot be heard and can only protest quietly through established channels. This directive is illegal, abusive, high handed, ultra vires, null and void and absolutely of no effect. It is bunkum, balderdash and should be treated as what it is: a thrash.

There is even another annoying directive signed by the same Ag Director of Finance & Administration that officers from the state offices including Directors must procure written permission form the Ag MD before entering the head office building for whatever purpose. These emperors don’t want intruders on their turf.

The price of apathy towards public affairs is to be ruled by less qualified men. Let us therefore analyze the letters signed by the Ag Director of Finance & Administration without emotion or bias. The first, and most comprehensive place to look for decision making authority is the Public Service Rules/ Guidelines. It appears that the Interim Management Committee (IMC) is not conversant with this truth. As little attention as this vital document may have received from the team, it is the central nervous system of how civil servants should be queried, questioned, investigated, redeployed, penalized or retired. Despite being the constitution of the civil service, the IMC chose to ignore it for a variety of reasons which may include the high threshold required for a body as temporary as it is to inflict maximum harm on the career of its perceived enemies in the commission, uncertainty about where to focus and perhaps most of all, the glaring fact that it is time consuming to implement and just seems distracting from its pre-conceived dark agenda.

Public Service Rule (PSR) No 020810 provides for the retirement of a civil servant who has attained the age of 60 years or 35 years in service. Where did the IMC procure the authority to direct civil servants who have two more years or less to stay in service to proceed on compulsory retirement?

Rule No. 160501 confers the power to exercise disciplinary control over officers in parastatal on the Supervisory Boards/Councils. This power is however without prejudice to the provisions of Sections 2-6 of Chapter 3 of the PSR.

Read Also: NDDC sends key officials on mandatory leave as forensic audit begins

Under Rule 030301 of Section 3 of PSR which deals with misconduct, an officer must be informed in writing of the specific act of wrong doing or the improper behaviour inimical to the image of the service charged against him which must be investigated and proved before any disciplinary action can be taken against him. The letter from the IMC is apparently cloaked with an intention to engage on a misconduct fishing expedition as it sets out to punish those whom it intends to institute disciplinary proceedings against at a future date. What a load of hogwash! This arrant nonsense and deliberate intimidation and degradation of career public servants by persons who are temporarily occupying positions that may be beyond their pay grades must be condemned by all well-meaning people.

Under the provisions of Rule 030101, disciplinary actions of officers above Level 13, which include all Directors/Heads of Departments directly targeted by the IMC should be referred to the Federal Civil Service Commission. The civil service system cannot be nullified by appointed officials who insist on engaging in actions prohibited by law.

This IMC of NDDC is surely made up of people who can bear grudges until judgment day, if not so, how does one explain its directives on the retirement of officers who still have two more years to go in their career? They want civil servants with guaranteed tenure to retire before their due dates but the same members of IMC and their sponsors are lobbying to have their tenure extended despite the fact that it has since expired. The IMC needs to re-evaluate its grudge response strategies.

Under the provisions of Rule 030601 of Section 6 of PSR, if a pubic officer is to retire in public interest on grounds which cannot be dealt with under the procedures laid down in Rule No 030305, the CSC shall call for full report from the Permanent Secretary/Head of Extra Ministerial Office in which the officer has served and (1) the report must be considered and also, (2) the officer must be given the opportunity to reply to the complaint by reason of which his/her retirement is contemplated. The usefulness of the officer must be taken into account before any decision can be reached. The question is: which of these provisions did the IMC comply with in its haste to do away with the finest and best trained officers of the commission?

The IMC claims to be acting on the advice of the lead audit consultants. This is most improbable because even snipers and corporate assassins that could have been the apparatchik out of the old Soviet Union Politburo would not contemplate this. It would be recalled that in 2014, Price Water House (PWC) an accounting firm of global renown was appointed to carry out a forensic audit of NNPC. It is not on record that it recommended that high ranking officials of the corporation be sent on compulsory leave or retirement before commencement of its work.

The singular problem with ignoring civil service regulations is that the rules set out the exact process to be followed in all conceivable disciplinary or retirement matters and anything done or purported to be done outside the ambit of its wide regulations becomes of no effect.

The Interim Management Committee story is in trouble because of its casual willingness to engage in wanton recklessness and ongoing heist. The apocryphal story of the he-goat that set out in search of a wife but came back pregnant seems apposite for the government’s constitution of this Interim Management Committee (IMC). The rat has unwittingly gone to the boa constrictor for protection. Today, the IMC of NDDC represents the despicable and ignoble face of public service the Supervising Minister promised the Niger Delta Region it would not see again. The IMC is daily issuing illegal orders to the workforce, repudiating contracts it awarded and signed, pretending not to recollect companies it awarded Billion Naira contracts less than two weeks ago, denying payments it authorized and effected, and weakly defending itself against allegations of numerous sleaze so much so that past managements of the commission are meant to appear like associates of St Francis of Assisi. The IMC has not done badly, it has done exceptionally badly, in some sense, because of the failure of leadership. Where is the supervising Minister of Niger Delta Affairs? Can this happen in his Ministry?

Something does not smell right here. Why does the IMC seem agitated and insisting that experienced hands who know where the bones are buried either proceed on compulsory leave or mandatory retirement? NDDC is like an abused damsel severally used and dumped by iniquitous men who saw her usefulness only in the fulfilment of their lecherous desires. The Directors are like her neigbours who know the full story of her crying shame. If you don’t ask them questions about her fate, who will tell her complete story? The President did not order a probe, he ordered a forensic audit which presupposes that all persons in the commission who played a role in any way whatsoever since 2000 must be available to answer questions. Anything to the contrary would be seen as a calculated attempt to shield facts and engage in mere imitation of action.

The auditors must be careful and professional so that they don’t walk away without executing any real changes after what is meant to be an exhaustive process. It may make the situation worse. The narrative that the Directors are against the audit seems to be a deliberate campaign of calumny against them. This evil narrative by the IMC collapses like a pack of cards when juxtaposed with the fact that the reports of the Project Verification exercise the IMC handed over to the appointed forensic auditors in a televised show about a week ago, were generated by these same Directors they are trying to demonize. This action of the IMC to pronounce judgement on the the Directors / staff of the commission before the commencement of the ordered forensic audit in flagrant abuse of the Public Service Rules as established above, clearly portrays their bias and consequent unfitness to supervise the process. The public space in the past two weeks has been inundated with hard evidences of the sleaze and humongous thievery the IMC has perpetrated in their less than two months of stay in power. If genuine results are to come out of the audit, then the President MUST do the needful by immediately disbanding the IMC and constituting a Governing Board in line with the NDDC Act to unbiasedly supervise the process.

Navigating the commission in a season of forensic audit requires collective action, focusing the efforts of the entire team, getting the right decisions quickly and compelling a skeptical citizenry to have faith in the process and likely outcome. The IMC as compromised as they are, cannot do this. The solution is the immediate constitution of an uncompromised and unbiased Governing Board that understands that leading together with management is simply critical. The governing board upon assumption of office shall in exercise of its powers in line with the Act, undo these illegalities perpetrated by the IMC. It is wise thinking to get the dynamics right and use all available human resources for a good result.