The Senate on Tuesday confirmed the appointment of Pius Odubu as the chairman of the Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) along with those of other members.
This is even as the Senate rejected the confirmation of Joy Yimebe Nunieh (Rivers) who was nominated to represent Rivers state in the commission because she failed to appear for screening.
The confirmation and rejection followed the adoption of the report of the committee on Niger Delta which was presented by the committee chairman, Senator Peter Nwaoboshi (Delta North).
President Muhammadu Buhari had a week ago, requested the Senate to confirm the nominations of the members.
Buhari’s request was contained in a letter dated 18th October 2019 and addressed to Senate President Ahmad Lawan.
The President explained that his request was “in accordance with the provision of Section 2(2)(a) of the Nigerian Delta Development Commission, (NNDC) (establishment) Act, 2000.”
The nominees confirmed by the Senate are Pius Odudu (Edo) as chairman, Barnard Okumagba (Delta), managing director; Otobong Ndem (Akwa Ibom), executive director projects and Maxwell Oko (Bayelsa), executive director finance and administration.
Those confirmed to represent states include Jones Erue, Delta; Victor Ekhator, Edo; Nwogu Nwogu, Abia; Theodore Alison, Bayelsa; and Victor Antai for Akwa Ibom respectively.
Others are Maurice Effiwatt, Cross River; Olugbenga Edema, Ondo; Uchegbu Chidiebere Kyrian, Imo while Aisha Murtala Muhammad (Kano) will represent the North-West region, Shuabu Ardo Zubairu (Adamawa), North East and Abdullahi Bage (Nasarawa) for the North Central zone respectively.
Explaining why the Rivers nominee, Nunieh was not confirmed, Nwaoboshi said “Yimebe did not appear for the screening so she was not screened and therefore she is not named for confirmation. We wrote to her and even extended the time for the screening but she did not show up.”
However, in his remarks, Senate minority leader, Enyinnaya Abaribe informed that the rejected nominee was appointed by Buhari as chairman of the interim board of NDDC and that because she did not show up for the screening, he opined that the approval of the entire nominations should be suspended.
While performing the confirmation, Senate President Ahmad Lawan said the screening and confirmation were done in a truthful manner and so should be approved by the lawmakers. He charged the newly confirmed board to embark on projects that will change the lives of the people for the better.
“We need to do proper oversight on NDDC. We need to have value for money and we must remain alert because it is our responsibility that public funds are put to use and the NDDC operates in a manner it was constituted,” Lawan stated.
