By Seledi Thompson-Wakama
The performance of the NDDC in driving the development process in the Niger Delta region must have encouraged the National Assembly to approve the N1.911 trillion 2024 budget of the Commission promptly. The Appropriation Bill was passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives after due diligence.
The current NDDC’s leadership approach to development and collaboration is yielding bountiful results, as seen from the recent commissioning of five flagship projects in May this year.
Between May 18 and May 28, 2024, the NDDC commissioned the 9km Obehie-Oke-Ikpe road in Ukwa West LGA, Abia State; the 27.5 kilometre Ogbia -Nembe Road, constructed in partnership with Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC; the 1×15MVA 33/11KV electricity injection substation in Amufi, Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area in Benin City, Edo State; the 45km double-circuit 33KV feeder line from Omotosho Power Station to Okitipupa, Ondo State and the NDDC 6km Iko-Atabrikang-Akata-Opulom-Ikot Inwang-Okoroutip-Iwochang Road and 600m Ibeno Bridge in Ibeno LGA, Akwa Ibom State.
These landmark projects, among the 92 infrastructure projects completed at the cost of N84 billion across the nine mandate states of the NDDC, speak of the impact the Commission is making in the quest to quicken the pace of development in Nigeria’s oil-rich region.
No doubt, regional development requires robust funding to effectively address specific and urgent development needs in the Niger Delta region. Adequate funding is critical to the implementation of the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Tinubu’s administration.
The 2024 appropriation was anchored on the theme: “Budget of Renewed Hope” in line with the Federal Government’s budget, and the proposal seeks to move the NDDC from transaction to transformation; above all, it is a product of participatory budgeting process that involves all the major stakeholders in the Niger Delta Region.
The 2024 budget plan to raise N1 trillion from development and commercial banks to complete 1,006 legacy projects across the region is pragmatic. It should be encouraged to succeed because it targets specific projects, including roads, bridges, electricity projects, school buildings, hospitals, shore protection, and reclamation.
These include the completion of Obehie-Azumini-Etim Ekpo Road, linking Abia to Akwa Ibom States valued at 39.8 billion; construction of Iko-Atabrikang-Akat-Opolom-Ikot Iwang-Okot Utip-Iwuo Achang Road with 70-metre span bridge valued at N18.9 billion; power station for Oron nation, comprising of 58km, 123Kv Double Circuit Transmission line from Eket to Oron in Akwa Ibom at N48.1 billion; construction of Otuogori-Otuegwe Bridge in Ogbia LGA of Bayelsa State valued at N29 billion.
Others are the construction of the Ogheye-koko-Escravos Road, Phase II in Delta State valued at N26 billion; the construction of Uzere-Patani Road in Delta State at the cost of N17 billion; the Construction of Okpella-North Ihie-Agerebode Road Phase II in Edo State at the cost of N31.9 billion; construction of the Ugbo-Oghoye Road, Phase I in Ilaje LGA of Ondo State at the cost of N70 billion and the construction of Ahoada-Abua-Degema road and Bridges in Rivers State at the cost of N27 billion.
Misleading Interpretation of NDDC Budget
The Coalition of Civil Society Organisations for The Advancement of The Niger Delta Development published an open letter written to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Senate President and the Senate Committee Chairman on budget, mischievously quoting figures of the total project cost as the sums budgeted for 2024.
The letter, entitled “NDDC Anti-Peoples Budget: Dissecting the Samuel Ogbuku 2024 Leaked Budget,” alleged, among other things, that the NDDC budget had “been a closely guarded document.”
Peoples’ Budget:
The NDDC 2024 Budget is the People’s Budget. We engaged several stakeholders, from the State Budget Committees to the Partners for Sustainable Development. On August 21, 2023, we hosted a two-day 2024 Budget of Reconstruction Conference at Ibom Icon Hotel and Golf Resort in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
On that occasion, representatives of the State Governments, Oil Companies, Civil Society members, Development Partners and Federal Ministries met to review the budget proposals.
It is also important to note that both chambers of the National Assembly, the Senate and the House of Representatives, deliberated on the budget proposals and approved them expeditiously.
Allegations Vs. the truth:
1. That N32 billion was budgeted for constructing the Ibeju-Lekki-Araromi-Ise-Akudo Road in Ondo State and wondered whether it was not in Lagos State. In their ignorance and haste to malign the NDDC, they forgot that the road’s main alignment is in Ondo State and that the 32 billion they quoted is the project’s total cost. In the 2024 budget, only 180 million was allocated to the project.
2. That N15 billion is budgeted for the Niger Delta Broadband Initiative to develop high-speed Internet across the Niger Delta region, Phase 1. Here, only N300 million is approved in the 2024 budget.
3. That N5 billion is budgeted for an NDDC Model ICT Centre in Oron town, Akwa Ibom State, with 1,500 solar-powered Systems. Again, this is false, as only N1.5 billion is provided for in the 2024 budget.
4. That N600 million will be spent to purchase and renew a Microsoft license and Internet subscription when only N180 million is in the budget.
5. That another N600 million will be used to upgrade and maintain the NDDC website. Only N120 million was provided here.
6. That N4 billion is budgeted for re-enactment and harmonisation of the Niger Delta Regional Development Master plan. Only N500 million is allocated for this project, broken into 85 lots.
7. That N6 billion is set aside for consultancy for review of the Niger Delta Regional Development Master Plan. This, again, is false as only N1 billion is allocated for this assignment split into 40 lots.
8. That N2 billion will be spent on a stakeholders’ conference on the review of the Niger Delta regional development master plan. What is in the budget for 2024 is 200 million.
9. That N17 billion is set aside to complete the NDDC Headquarters building, Phase 2. Only N3 billion is in the 2024 budget.
10. That N2.5 billion will be spent on the Forensic Audit of Accounts/Projects and Programmes of the NDDC from 2001 – 2019. Nothing is allocated for this in the 2024 budget.
11. That N1.5 billion is set aside to take inventory of youth groups in the Niger Delta region. This is far from the truth, as only N45 million is allocated for the exercise.
12. Another bogus allegation is that N50 billion will be spent on desilting. This is fallacious as this budget item has zero allocation.
13. That N30 billion will be spent clearing Invasive Species and water hyacinths. Again, this is totally false, as it also has zero allocation.
Accountability:
The NDDC is aware of an increasing need to be seen as more accountable to the public and to conduct its affairs more transparently. Entrenching the tenets of accountability and transparency in its activities forms a part of the thrust of the new leadership embodied in its mantra of Transiting from Transaction to Transformation.
We have established a robust Corporate Governance structure that fosters accountability and transparency. We have also developed clear and measurable Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to track progress towards goals.
To ensure that a new institutional culture anchored on sound ethics and good corporate governance is in place, we engaged KPMG, a reputable global business consultancy, to review and strengthen our corporate governance system and improve our internal processes and institutional protocols.
Misguided Attack:
Sadly, at a time the NDDC is pursuing innovative policies aimed at delivering services more efficiently to the people of the Niger Delta, some misguided groups appear intent on distracting the Commission by raising bogus allegations.
Clearly, the allegations by the Coalition of Civil Society Organisations for The Advancement of The Niger Delta Development are misguided and flows largely from ignorance.
Seledi Thompson-Wakama
Director, Corporate Affairs
November 15, 2024.
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