The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has pledged to embrace accountability and transparency in its processes to ensure that the Commission effectively discharges its mandate of fast-tracking the development of the Niger Delta region.
Acting Executive Director, Finance and Administration, EDFA, Chief Ibanga Bassey Etang, made this pledge during an inspection of one of the Commission’s facilities in NDDC in Port Harcourt on Wednesday.
Chief Etang said: “We must do what is right and it must be a departure from the past. Whatever has been done wrong, must be corrected so that the people of the Niger Delta region can have the reward for which the NDDC was created.
“The Commission was created for a purpose and I want to assure Nigerians and Niger Delta people, in particular, that the NDDC will do its best to meet their expectations.”
Etang said that the three-man Interim Committee was grateful to President Muhammadu Buhari for giving them the opportunity to serve Nigeria and the people of the Niger Delta region, assuring that they will not fail. He stated that the committee did not hesitate to hit the ground running, “because there is a lot to do.”
The Acting Executive Director Finance and Administration told newsmen that the new management was notified that some facilities belonging to the NDDC were vandalized, declaring that culprits would be handed over to the security agencies. He warned that those with intentions to illegally remove the commission’s properties should desist “or be prepared to face the law.”
Etang expressed regret over the condition of the former Managing Director’s guest house, adding: “We are here for the inspection of facilities. We have so many facilities and we have discovered something here that requires attention and that is why we are here with security personnel as well. You can see the property has been vandalized and a lot of the items have been taken away.”
He added: “We also want to send a message that anybody or group of persons who have organized themselves to cart away NDDC property should stop and the ones that have been taken must be returned because the commission will stop at nothing to ensure that those properties are returned.”