Nyesom Wike, the governor of Rivers State, on Tuesday, September 28, 2021, said the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, is a cash cow for politicians in the country.
He stated this during the commissioning of the Police Barracks, Special Protection Unit, SPU, base 6 at Omagwa in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State.
“NDDC has been a cash cow for politicians,” he said. “You will see competition who will be the Managing Director, Executive Director (Finance), Executive Director (Projects).
“These are people who will make sure money is available for politics. You have portfolio contractors from Abuja. Every now and then, the MD will be running to Abuja.”
According to Governor Wike, the problem of the NDDC is not just the Niger Delta region but entire Nigeria.
Making reference to the promise by the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, that the NDDC would change to meet the aspirations of the people of the region, Wike said it is time for the commission to work.
The governor also took a swipe at some lawmakers in the National Assembly who lobby for which projects to be included in the NDDC budget.
Wike explained that the problem he has with the NDDC is a lack of synergy with the state governments in the region.
Speaking further, he noted that he filed a lawsuit against the commission, accusing NDDC of picking up a project in a state thereby distorting the government’s plan.
He added, “I took NDDC to court and we defeated them. You enter somebody’s state, you don’t even know the development plan of the state and start distorting the development plan of the state.
“The road you want to do is not your road. You won’t liaise with the state to say ‘look what project do you want in this state.
“If you ask all the nine states in the Niger Delta and say State A, what kind of project do you want NDDC to execute, we are not interested in who will be the contractor. Our interest is that we are synergising with you so that you don’t repeat those things we are doing.”
