Need for faithful implementation of NDDC audit report

 

The Federal Government will in consequence apply the law to remedy the deficiencies outlined in the audit report as appropriate. This will include but not limited to initiation of criminal investigations, prosecution, recovery of funds not properly utilised for the public purposes for which they were meant for, review of the laws to reposition and restructure the NDDC for the efficiency of better service delivery amongst others. In all these instances of actions, legal due processes will strictly be complied with.”

 – Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, on September 2, 2021 while receiving the NDDC forensic audit report.

Finally, the long-awaited forensic audit report on the Niger Delta Development Commission has been submitted to the President. It was received on behalf of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), last Thursday, September 2, 2021 by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami. The earthshaking revelations in the report are in consonance with the long-held opinion of many informed Nigerians that the NDDC is a cesspool of corruption. How on earth can an interventionist agency have 326 unreconcilled bank accounts; have 13,777 abandoned projects and show no value for over N6tn?

According to the AGF, “It is on record that between 2001 and 2019, the Federal Government approved N3, 375, 735,776,794.93 as budgetary allocations and N2,420,948,894,191.00 as Income from Statutory and Non-Statutory sources, which brings the total figure to the sum of approximately Six Trillion Naira given to the Niger Delta Development Commission.”

It needs be said that budgetary allocation does not necessarily mean that the entire sum was cash-backed and released to the agency. Therefore, bandying N6tn budgetary allocation about may be misleading. Malami should have been bold to announce the amount released to the NDDC from the total budgeted sums during the period under review.

According to the minister, “The Federal Government is particularly concerned with the colossal loss occasioned by uncompleted and unverified development projects in the Niger Delta region, in spite of the huge resources made available to uplift the living standards of the citizens. We have on record over 13,777 projects, the execution of which is substantially compromised. The Federal Government is also concerned with the multitudes of Niger Delta Development Commission’s bank accounts amounting to 362 and lack of proper reconciliation of accounts.”

Though I am not from any of the nine Niger Delta states, I am pained to see how the interventionist agency has been turned to a cash cow for a few members of the Niger Delta elite who cornered contracts, got huge mobilisation fees and refused to either do the work or deliver a shoddy job. There have been several news reports of how successive NDDC managements colluded with powerful interest groups to pilfer the funds of the commission. Last year, during the probe of the agency by the House of Representatives, the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Apabio, dropped a bombshell when he said some members of the National Assembly were among the greatest beneficiaries of contracts in the NDDC. This revelation led to the infamous “Off the mic” comment as the chairman of the probe panel frantically tried to shut out further discussion on the matter.

What that episode shows is that the federal lawmakers who are supposed to provide effective oversight on the interventionist agency are themselves neck-deep in the rot having used their exalted positions to corner contracts for themselves and their cronies and failed to deliver on the contracts. This act of self-enrichment and self-aggrandisement is part of the problems of our public service.

It is noteworthy that even as there was a forensic audit of the agency going on the interim management that was later sacked by the court last year was busy feathering their nest as they spent unconscionable sums of money allegedly for purchase of COVID-19 palliatives. It was reported that the Interim Management Committee under Ms. Joy Nunieh and Prof. Kemebradikumo Pondei allegedly spent a whopping sum of N81.5bn in five months (January – May 2020) on the underlisted areas “Community relations – N1.3bn; Condolences – N122.9m; Consultancy: N83m; COVID-19 –  N3.14bn; Duty Travel Allowance – N486m; Imprest – N790.9m and Lassa fever – N1.956bn.” Others are: Legal services – N900m; Maintenance – N220m; Overseas travel – N85.6m; Project Public Communication – N1.121bn; Security – N744m; Staffing-related payment – N8.8bn; Stakeholders engagement (February 18 – May 31, 2020 N248 million”.

On award of contracts, Nunieh last year accused Akpabio of instructing her to award some contracts to unregistered companies, some of which got registered after they were awarded the contracts. She revealed: “In some cases, contracts were pre-awarded before the designs were given so you find out that most of the projects were abandoned”.

Furthermore, in August 2015, the then Auditor General of the Federation, Samuel Ukura, said that at least N183bn that was meant for the development of the Niger Delta was diverted by those put in charge of the commission. In July 2017, a former Managing Director, Nsima Ekere, announced the revocation of over 600 contracts worth N200bn. According to him, the management discovered that some of the contracts were either not properly awarded or some were awarded but the contractors had not yet gone to site.

It is noteworthy that the NDDC is just one of the several initiatives meant to develop the Niger Delta region. In the last 22 years of this Fourth Republic, the Federal Government has also established Ministry of Niger Delta with two ministers attached to it. Since 2009, there has been the Amnesty Programme for the repentant Niger Delta Militants, there is also the 13 per cent Derivation Fund specially paid to the Niger Delta states while there is equally the $1 billion Ogoni Clean-up Fund. Just last month, the President signed into law the Petroleum Industry Act with three per cent of the operating cost of the International Oil Companies set aside as the Host Community Development Fund. We should not forget all the corporate social responsibility initiatives of the IOCs in the Niger Delta states. All this aside, the monthly federal allocations in which Niger Delta states are top earners should have led to unparalleled developmental strides in the oil-producing region. Unfortunately, the reverse is the case!

Apart from the compromised federal lawmakers, the Federal Government itself must share in the blame for the non-performance of the NDDC. The Federal Government decided not to constitute the governing board of the commission which has been due since 2015 when this regime came to power. Without the governing board and with the in-fighting among the management of the agency, it did not come as a surprise that contractors decided to take the agency for a ride. As I write this, the NDDC is being run by a sole administrator. This is against the letter and spirit of the law setting up the agency.

Incidentally, the information so far released on the forensic audit report is very scanty. Nigerians will like to know exactly how much of the funds of the agency have been pilfered and how much is expected to be refunded and by whom. If there is no official information, this will give room to rumour-mongering and fake news. Even if it is summary of the report, it should be published for public consumption so that people can know the undertakers of the NDDC and how much they are expected to refund of their stolen wealth. Leaving the report to the realm of speculation may make the innocent to be wrongly accused. Having the report out will also enable civil society and citizen oversight to ensure that the media and the general public follow through the recovery process. As it is now, the AGF may turn the report to a political circus show to coerce opposition elements to join the ruling party ahead of the 2023 elections.

The story of the NDDC is a sad tale. An agency meant to provide succour and development to the long-suffering people of the oil-rich region is now being used by the elites within and outside of the region to corruptly enrich themselves. Just imagine if the 13,777 abandoned or poorly executed projects had been completed, wouldn’t that have significantly delivered jobs, reduced poverty and significantly improved the welfare of the people of the region? I suggest that a failed contract tribunal or special court should be set up to publicly try all those who have been indicted in the NDDC contract scam. If it means that their personal assets will be seized to recover the mismanaged funds, so be it. More importantly, however, there is the need to plug all the loopholes being used to milk the agency dry. The first being the nomination, screening and inauguration of the board of the commission, effective oversight by the federal lawmakers and supervising ministry over the agency, media and CSOs searchlight on the operations of the agency as well as community mobilisation to follow through and report on the state of projects being executed in their areas.