Mike Odiegwu, Port Harcourt
The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has faulted the recommendations by the National Assembly to return the commission to the supervision of the Presidency.
The commission’s Director, Corporate Affairs, Charles Odili Saturday quoted NDDC Acting Executive Director, Projects, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh, as saying that the activities of some national lawmakers were constituting a stumbling block to the operations of the commission and should be critically examined for the country to move forward.
Ojougboh spoke when he paid a courtesy visit to the Asagba of Asaba, Obi Chike Edozien, at his palace, before heading to the Delta State Police Command, where the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu launched N450m COVID-19 equipment procured for the police by the commission.
“They want to take the NDDC back to the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, which supervised it for about 15 years,” Ojougboh said.
“In those years, N3 trillion was committed and the SGF and the National Assembly didn’t see what was happening. Now that the NDDC has started to make progress, should it return to where it came from?
“I am 60 years old now. So if I don’t say the truth now, when will I say it? Your majesty, be assured that I have not stolen and I will not steal.”
At the equipment launch, Ojougbon stated that the COVID-19 intervention was meant to complement the efforts of the Federal Government in checking the spread of the Coronavirus disease.
He emphasised that the intervention was necessary because it was important to assist the police force to protect its members from falling victim to the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said: “Whether we accept it or not, the police are the best friends of good people in the society. They protect us and without them, we will be in serious trouble. So we have to do everything possible to make sure that they are assisted to do their job.”
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Ojougboh said the palliatives such as local fabrics of face masks, hand sanitisers, thermometers, hand gloves and disinfection machines, would be distributed to all police commands in the Niger Delta region.
He said: “All these palliatives we are distributing would not have been possible in the past because some people in the National Assembly will divert the funds. Before now, the two chairmen of NDDC committees in the two chambers of the National Assembly were the de facto managers of the NDDC.
“When the IMC came on board, we said that we cannot continue on that path. We want to assure Nigerians that we will no longer allow the chairmen to arm twist us. You have seen the probe in the National Assembly where the lawmakers are the prosecutors, and the judge in their own case.”
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