Allow NDDC board to complete tenure – Ndoma-Egba

In the face of seeming rubbles and shaking of the table in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), a string voice from the region has spoken in support of allowing the board and management to conclude their tenures.

This came from Victor Ndoma-Egba (SAN), the former chairman of the NDDC who has appealed to the FG to stop the frequent changes in the leadership of the Commission to allow for continuity and growth in the Niger Delta region.

Speaking during a two-day board and management retreat in Lagos, Ndoma-Egba advised the government to ensure the completion of all boards’ tenures, stating that continuity was key to project completion and the success of the intervention agency.

He stated: “The law is clear and it states that if you’re appointed for four years, it is renewable for another four years. I believe the law’s drafters appreciated the need for stability and continuity. They understood that projects, programmes, and plans would be negatively affected without stability and continuity.”

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The former NDDC chairman advocated the need for a review of the Niger Delta Regional Development Master Plan. He advised that “The roadmap for the development of the Niger Delta should be owned by all the key stakeholders, especially the state governments.”

Speaking in a similar vein, the NDDC Executive Director of Projects, Victor Antai, underlined the need for stakeholders to collaborate with the NDDC as an interventionist agency mandated to fast-track the development of the Niger Delta region.

He noted: “Stability in the leadership of the Commission will foster long-term strategic planning and consistent leadership, ultimately contributing to effectively executing its mandate and objectives.”

He advised that the problems in the Niger Delta should not be left to the government and NDDC alone but all the other stakeholders. He observed: “I must also tell you that the current management is doing well. If the government can retain them longer and provide more resources for them, they will be able to perform much better.”

Making a presentation to the NDDC Board and Management, a partner in KPMG Nigeria, Tolu Odukale, called for NDDC to practice good governance by implementing the basic rules, practices, and processes of corporate governance and adopting a set of relationships between the organisation’s board, management, and key stakeholders.

The NDDC Director of Planning Research and Statistics, Davies Okarevu, affirmed that continuity in leadership, project conception, and implementation was needed to consolidate the recorded gains.

He said the NDDC was meeting the people’s yearnings and aspirations. He advised that they should be supported to continue the development activities in the Niger Delta.