President Muhammadu Buhari’s grand announcement in mid-October that he had ordered an audit of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) shows that he is spearheading an operation to blame the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), the party of his two predecessors Goodluck Jonathan and Olusegun Obasanjo, for the NDDC’s shortcomings. The commission was opened in 2000 to finance development projects in the oil-rich states of the Niger Delta, pool resources and avoid overlapping of services but has been plagued by corruption scandals from the onset. To show he was fully in charge of the NDDC once again, Buhari appointed members of his own All Progressives Congress (APC) party as directors of the institution ( AEI 847). The Rivers State governor Nyesom Wike and main financier of PDP was incensed at these postings. The former vice-governor of the Edo State Pius Odubu, who is close to APC member Adams Oshiomhole has become the new NDDC chairman. Pastor Adams Oshiomhole and local APC leader was named administrator of the Delta State. From the time it was set up in 2000 to Buhari’s arrival in power in 2015, the NDDC had been managed by PDP members, starting with Onyema Ugochukwu, a special advisor to president Obasanjo. Nigerians see being given a post within the NDDC as a reward from those close to the head of state in Abuja.
展开▼
