•••URGES PRESIDENT BUHARI TO CONSTITUTE SUBSTANTIVE BOARD
The Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, on Monday, decried the over 1700 abandoned projects of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), littered in different parts of the state.
He described the situation as unacceptable.
Diri, therefore, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to constitute without further delay, a substantive board for the commission by its enabling Act.
He explained that the absence of the board was hindering the commission’s operations.
A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to Bayelsa State Governor, Daniel Alabrah, quoted the Governor Diri as having made the comment on Tuesday when the NDDC Interim Administrator, Dr. Akwa Effiong, visited him in Government House, Yenagoa.
The Bayelsa governor observed that the non-collaboration of the commission with catchment states that would advise on priority projects has led to duplication and abandonment of projects.
Diri stressed that the interim administrator’s arrangement was alien to the Act and unacceptable to governors of the Niger Delta.
According to him, the commission had not been able to meet its mandate because of the absence of a substantive board.
He described the NDDC as an interventionist body created to fill the developmental gap in the Niger Delta.
Diri said the governors have also been robbed of their advisory role, which would have enabled the board to embark on people-oriented projects in the region.
Some of the abandoned projects include the Angalabiri-Ebedebiri-Toru-Orua shore protection project captured in the commission’s 2020 budget, the Sabagreia-Polaku bridge as well as the Akenfa bridge among others.
He said the Governor expressed his administration’s preparedness to work with the commission to foster development in the state.
“The NDDC has a lot of abandoned projects in Bayelsa State. From reports, we have over 1700 projects that are dotted all over Bayelsa State. I know that is not healthy.
“I like to at this juncture, again, appeal to President Muhammadu Buhari to constitute a substantive board for the NDDC according to the Act setting it up.
“The NDDC was conceived and established as an interventionist body to fill the developmental gap. We cannot accept these policy summersaults that make our development suffer.
“The interim arrangement has become the norm rather than the exception. That is unacceptable to us as governors of the Niger Delta states.
We have a very huge stake according to the Act establishing the NDDC and that role is not being played. With the interim administration, there is no board for us to advise.
“There must exist a synergy that will profile these projects before they are conceived. NDDC was not to go into every nook and cranny of states in the region. It should be looking at very large projects, sometimes inter-state projects with mutual agreement and cooperation of the state governments.
“I believe that collaborating with the NDDC will create a more robust impression and leave a lasting legacy for our people and generations yet unborn
“The NDDC must continue to work closely with governors in the nine states to ensure synergy and avoid duplication of projects and activate the powers of the governors in the board in line with section 2 of the Act establishing it.” The statement reads.
According to the statement, the governor emphasized that he was against the scrapping of the NDDC but that rather it should be rejigged to enable it to meet its functions.
“The governor also appreciated the interim administrator for the donation of a 1000KVA generator and a coaster bus to the state-owned Niger Delta University as well as four waste disposal trucks to the state government.
“Earlier, Dr. Akwa Effiong appreciated the governor for his developmental strides, saying he had done well within the short period in office.
“He expressed the preparedness of the NDDC to collaborate with the government on the construction of the age-long Nembe-Brass road project that the state had undertaken.” the statement said.