We must restructure nddc to engender devt in S-South — Obaseki

…Audit‘ll reposition NDDC to deliver on mandate —Aseimiegha

By Samuel Oyadongha & Gabriel Enogholase

Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has reiterated the call for the restructuring of Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, to drive development in the South-South.

He made the call in Benin City, yesterday, during a meeting with the South-South Zone Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

Obaseki said: “In the South-South, we must stand up to defend ourselves economically, politically and security-wise. We have pretenders in the region, who try to exploit the region and we must stop them.

“What is going on in NDDC today is totally untenable. NDDC can’t do any work in Edo and other states in the South-South. You can’t use the resources meant for the region to develop other regions of the country.

READ ALSO: Buhari to Service Chiefs: You’ve got few weeks to deliver the country

“The current structure of the NDDC has caused underdevelopment in the region, with the Federal Government not showing any concern.”

According to him, the South-South has the needed resources to develop itself, but the inability to do this has impeded its growth.

Obaseki expressed worry that “the Federal Government seems not to care about the scandal associated with NDDC. We have enough money in the region to build infrastructure and revive the economy. We can do it ourselves by stopping the interference.”

Audit’ll reposition NDDC to deliver on core mandate —Aseimiegha

Meanwhile, Special Assistant on Youth Matters to the Sole Administrator of NDDC, Mr Orusakwe Aseimiegha, has said the forensic audit of the commission was meant to make the intervention agency more functional and responsive to the yearnings and aspirations of the people of the region.

Aseimiegha in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, as part of his familiarisation and sensitisation tour of youths in the region, said the audit was not designed as a witch-hunt but to correct the anomalies keeping the region underdeveloped.

He said: “While the NDDC may have recorded marginal success in both human and physical development, perversions of political interference, systemic distortions, uncoordinated project implementation, institutional constraints, lack of focus, high overhead costs, absence of consensus building and endemic corruption among others had significantly constricted the capacity of the commission to deliver on its core mandate.

“Specifically, the forensic audit is meant to examine and provide answers, as well as creating a framework for reversing the failures recorded in the past in order to recover those resources recoverable, plug the gaps and stop the waste that is keeping the region underdeveloped.”

Vanguard News Nigeria

The post We must restructure nddc to engender devt in S-South — Obaseki appeared first on Vanguard News.