NDDC, controversial gov’t quango operated without budgets for 3-yrs

 Ben Eguzozie

The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), the scandalous quango established by the Nigerian federal government in October 2000, hardly different from its previous character of opacity, phantom projects and phoney contract payments, recently showed that it is difficult to wean it of controversy. Information gleaned from a statement by its managing director Samuel Ogbuku showed that the commission has operated for three years without a budget. The question quickly comes to mind: how has it run its activities for 36 months (2021 to 2023) without a single spending plan?

“The last budget of this commission was in 2020, and I believe this is the only agency operating without a budget for this long period”. This was contained in a statement made by the MD, Ogbuku, while speaking on the next phase of projects’ commissioning by the commission, slated to begin in February 2025.

While speaking in Port Harcourt, the MD informed that some of the projects to be inaugurated include: multi-purpose emergency shelters in Bayelsa, Delta, and Rivers states that would provide relief to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), in the event of flooding in the Niger Delta region. He said earlier on between 18 to 28 May 2024, the commission inaugurated five major development projects across the oil region, which included 27.5km Ogbia -Nembe Road, constructed in partnership with Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), connecting 14 communities in Bayelsa State. Other projects were 6km Iko-Atabrikang-Akata-Opulom-Ikot Inwang-Okoroutip-Iwochang Road and 600m Ibeno Bridge in Ibeno Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, the 9km Obehie-Oke-Ikpe Road in Ukwa West LGA of Abia State, the 45-km double-circuit 33KV feeder line from Omotosho Power Station to Okitipupa in Ondo State, the 1×15MVA 33/11KV electricity injection substation in Amufi, Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area in Benin City, Edo State.

As it stands, the commission’s 2024 budget of N1.9 trillion, the first since 2020, was only signed into law by President Bola Tinubu in October 2024. In addition, the President asked the commission’s governing board to approach financial institutions to raise N1 trillion in the 2024 budget to complete its “legacy projects.”

Till date, it is unclear how much the commission owes its contractors. For instance, in 2019, it was said to be owing some N3 trillion to contractors. Later, a committee came out to declare that it owed “phantom contractors, with a then serving senator handed 300 contracts. Also, the committee said 120 of the contracts were actually fully paid. Though it did not say if the projects were executed.

Some economists and development experts said they were doubtful of NDDC’s credibility to run the corporate governance lane required to obtain funds from the financial institutions let alone the capital market.

“The financial markets require openness. Your books and records must be laid bare for creditors to see. But I fear that the NDDC is rather an opaque entity. Creditors would hardly entrust their funds with a quango that is shrouded in huge controversy,” one ICEN member told our correspondent.

By far, NDDC, in a quarter-of-a-century of its existence, has operated with mainly shoddy projects, unclear contracts, and bogus payments for spurious jobs. Many economists at the South-South chapter of the Institute of Chartered Economists of Nigeria (ICEN) said the commission, established with a mandate “to make a difference” in the oil region of the Niger Delta, “reeks of financial haemorrhage.”

“The NDDC has serially been labelled with wasting huge public funds on frivolous projects, including acting as a pipeline for siphoning funds to fund the political campaigns of the party in power. Some years ago, it was the PDP. Since 2015, it has been APC,  rather than living up to its established mandate of determined to make a difference in the Niger Delta,” said Friday Udoh, former president of ICEN in the South-South geopolitical zone.

However, Ogbuku the NDDC chief executive, said the issue of budgeting for the commission “have been achieved in collaboration with the Presidency, the National Assembly and other regional stakeholders.” He said the commission was engaging all stakeholders to achieve harmony and cooperation in the task of developing a hitherto neglected Niger Delta region. “It is a synergy and combined efforts from all the stakeholders who believe the time has come when there should be stability in the NDDC and that stability is a challenge to us to ensure that we deliver development to the people of the Niger Delta region.”