President Buhari
From Foluso Adelaja
The Interim Management Committee (IMC) of the beleaguered Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has been dissolved by the Federal Government and the corporation placed under a new Sole Administrator, Dr Dabota Godswill Jumbo who reports directly to the President.
This step was taken by the Federal Government in conformity with the recommendations of the Senate that the commission’s management be dissolved.
In a Special Government Announcement signed by the Presidential Spokesperson, Femi Adesina yesterday, NDDC has now been taken over by the president for proper supervision.
Government adopted the Senate’s recommendations after setting up it’s own Technical Committee to study them and advise it appropriately.
The decision to scrap the interim management is therefore in consonance with the final advice of the Federal Government’s Technical Committee on the commission.
All the affected persons in the commission’s interim management have been advised by government to hand over immediately to the most senior civil servants under them.
The new Sole Administrator, Dr Jumbo’s appointment is for an initial period of six months.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government has assured that this new development will not terminate the ongoing probe of the commission for financial improprieties as the Presidency said “the forensic study of the commission will continue unhindered”.
It will be noted that the commission was recently in the eye of the storm as the Senate in its probe discovered gross financial recklessness in its management.
The probe caused not a little stir in the country as even the Acting Managing Director of the commission, Prof. Daniel Pondei collapsed under serious grilling by the probe panel of the National Assembly which led to the immediate dramatic discontinuation of his facing the panel.
The Senate has earlier called on the IMC to refund the sum of N4.923 billion it paid to staff and contractors in breach of the procurement process and approvals.
