Thirty-seven Civil Society Organisations, on Wednesday, demanded thorough investigation of the various allegations of corruption in the Niger Delta Development Commission.
The CSOs also called for the prosecution of anyone found culpable no matter how highly placed.
In a letter signed by their leaders, the 37 CSOs said they were outraged by the gory tales of corruption in the Commission, which had been made public during the hearing of the National Assembly on the matter.
The statement said, “We are deeply concerned about recent revelations of the scale of corruption and mismanagement in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). We recall that the NDDC was established in 2000 as one of the first tasks of the new democratic government in Nigeria, and was conceived as a response to the agitations of the people of the region for greater benefits from the hydrocarbon resource exploitation, as well as responding to the dearth of development and basic social services in the region.
“It was established with the mission of facilitating the rapid, even and sustainable development of the Niger Delta into a region that is economically prosperous, socially stable, ecologically regenerative, and politically peaceful.
“We are saddened by the fact that rather than develop the region, the huge allocations to the NDDC have rather bequeathed a legacy of abandonment, neglect, and underdevelopment. Despite the huge yearly allocations to the Commission in the last 20 years, poor management and corruption have made it impossible for the agency to exert any reasonable measure of positive impact on the region.
“To ensure we do not drift off in the sea of allegations, it is important not to lose sight of what the real issues are. We need to determine what factors led to the level of reckless looting that has been associated with the Commission since its inception. We also need to develop strategies that will disincentivize stealing and mismanagement at the NDDC and ensure that the Commission lives up to its mandate.
“It is important to note that the corruption in the NDDC thrives essentially because of political influence and patronage. Successive governments in Nigeria have treated the Commission as a conduit for settlement and compensation.
“The decision as to who leads the NDDC at different points in time appears to have never been done on the basis of track record, competence or any form of merit, but rather out of consideration for settlement. In this regard, the Presidency shares equally in the blame over what the Commission has become.”
To address the decay in NDDC and reposition the Commission to live to its expectation, the NGOs called for thorough investigation of emerging revelations of malfeasance; commencement and expeditious execution of the Forensic Audit of the Commission, and the immediate dissolution of the current board of the NDDC, among others.
They said the Audit process must be conducted by globally recognised audit firms with experience in similar audit exercises, who must be selected through an open, free, and competitive bidding process, adding that credible civil society organisations should be allowed to closely monitor the audit process to ensure fairness, accuracy, and compliance with the highest standards.
The statement said, “As civil society organisations and the people of the region, we have documented all the allegations of corruption and abuse of due process in the Commission revealed at the public hearing.
“We will be closely monitoring the corresponding actions of all duty bearers in line with ensuring investigations and prosecution are carried out. This must not end in the manner other efforts ended.”
The statement was signed by: Nnimmo Bassey, Health of Mother Earth Foundation; Ken Henshaw, We The People; David Ugolor, Africa Network for Environmental and Economic Justice (ANEEJ); Tijah Bolton Akpan, Policy Alert; and Emem Okon, Kabetkache Women Development Resource Centre, among others.
