Investigators are searching for billions of dollars in lost or stolen funds from an Nigerian agency set up to develop the oil-rich but impoverished Niger Delta.
Like the rest of the country's murky oil
sector, officials say the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), based in
the southern oil city of Port Harcourt, has been a hotbed of corruption and
mismanagement since its inception 20 years ago. ۔
Nine states in the oil region make
trillions of naira (billions of dollars) a year, thanks to huge payments from
the government and oil companies in the central region.
So far, more than 12,000 projects have
been approved’ for the commission, but a recent parliamentary inquiry has
revealed that only a fraction has been, implemented.
This year alone, more than 81 billion
Naira (215 million, 180 million euros) have been allegedly misused by officials
and contractors, some of whom believe it was spent on international flights and
training while The country's airspace was closed due to the corona virus
epidemic.
Last month, the government approved
auditors headed by Ernst & Young to examine the agency's financial audit.
Niger Delta Affairs Minister God Will Akpabio
said President Muhammadu Buhari order was investigated’ in October following
the appointment of a team of auditors.
The auditors will review NDDC-approved
projects over the past 19 years, said Akpibio, which is itself conducting a
parliamentary review of the alleged graft.
"Through this exercise, we will know
whether the amount of money that has flowed into the region over the last 19
years and whether the value we have received so far is commensurate with the
money that has flowed into NDDC," he said. Have happened. "
At a public hearing last month, NDDC chief
Kemebradikumo Pondei fainted while being questioned by lawmakers.
Despite Nigeria's multibillion-dollar oil
and gas wealth, the Niger Delta is poor and developed, which sparked militant
unrest in the early 2000s.
At the time, attacks on oil facilities
reduced Nigeria's oil production by a third, hurting revenue.
Africa's largest crude producer and
exporter relies heavily on the oil sector for a large share of government
revenue and 90% of its foreign exchange earnings.
- Abandoned projects -
In the southern state of Balsa, it is
clear to see broken promises as NDDC contractors have abandoned landscaping
waste.
Partially developed projects that protect
coastal areas and remote areas to make link roads are deserted.
The eight-kilometer (five-mile) route was
to Ogbia, the hometown of former President Good luck Jonathan.
The project was awarded to a company owned
by the former president's cousin in 2013, but was never completed.
Community leaders are angry that
well-connected contractors, mostly from the region, are leaving after
collecting large sums of money.
"I can't tell you about any project
that NDDC has completed in this community, although we have a series of such
projects," Duateki Oriango-Oruwari told AFP.
"For those of us who live in riverine
areas, we face daily coastal erosion."
Another community leader, Alex Aquier,
complained that people in the region who get jobs are not doing so.
"The most depressing and sad fact is
that when the government awards our own sons for these projects, they leave
them."
Several contractors denied abandoning the
sites, saying they had not been’ paid by NDDC.
Former President Jonathan's cousin Azizola
Roberts said his firm owed about $ 1.5 million.
"Once the money is paid, we will
start work on the site and the plans will be implemented," he insisted.
He blamed unrest by angry locals for
blocking projects in the Niger Delta.
"While digging sand from a stream in
a nearby community for the project, locals in the community confiscated our
machines, insisting that we hire them or give them a certain amount of
money," he said. You have to pay. "
Industry observers say that in order to
make the ongoing investigation meaningful, the government should stop
appointing politicians and cronies to the NDDC.
"They see such appointments as
compensation, not a demand for service." Columnist Shaka Momodu recently
wrote for the Independent Daily.
"Such appointments look at the wallet
and start working again."
He wants the oil companies to present 3%
of their annual budget to NDDC on its board.
"It is shocking that international
oil companies have found a different way, despite all the looting and
corruption in the commission," Momondo said.
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