Niger Delta Govs Absent As Buhari Commissions N16bn NDDC Building

The six governors of the Niger Delta states on Thursday were conspicuously absent as Pres­ident Muhammadu Buhari commissioned the N16 billion headquarters building of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

The completion and even­tual commissioning of the project brought to an end 25 years of aimless waiting after the groundbreaking ceremo­ny which was initiated by the defunct Oil Mineral Producing Area Development Commis­sion (OMPADEC).

It would be recalled that in their meeting in Government House, Port Harcourt, on Tues­day, the Niger Delta governors urged President Muhammadu Buhari to put the NDDC mon­ey into an escrow account un­til a substantive board of the commission is inaugurated.

The governors of the oil bearing states lamented that lack of a substantive board was hampering the effective operations of the interven­tionist agency.

Commissioning the edifice, President Buhari thanked the Minister of Niger Delta Af­fairs, Sen. Godswill Akpabio, for steadfastness in ending many years of rents by the commission, and the atten­dant profligacy.

The president, who virtual­ly commissioned the building from the Council Chamber of the State House, said the land was acquired by the Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC) in 1996, and was abandoned after a series of design amendments.

“In 2015, as part of our administration’s cardinal objectives to kill corruption, some critical reforms were embarked upon, part of which was a holistic reform of the NDDC for greater service deliv­ery for the people of the region.