Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has urged individuals and groups to desist from instigating rancour in the commission with the aim of feasting from resultant confusion.

Director of Corporate Affairs, Ibitoye Abosede, in a statement, yesterday, said board members of the Commission are united and determined to work with new ideas to achieve the objective of fast-tracking development of the Niger Delta region.

He condemned a publication online, yesterday, titled: “NDDC chairperson aborts N25 billion payment as FG sets to domicile the commission in the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) office.”

Abosede said the Commission’s initial reaction was to ignore the false report but having realised that it is important to put the records straight, it decided to clarify facts, urging the public to disregard the report.

He said: “We are fully aware of an increasing need to be seen to be more accountable to the public and to conduct our affairs in a more transparent manner.”

“Entrenching the tenets of accountability and transparency in our activities forms part of the thrust of the new leadership, as espoused by the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Obong Umana Okon Umana, the Chairman of the NDDC Board, Mrs. Lauretta Onochie and the Managing Director, Dr. Samuel Ogbuku”.

Abosede said that according to the story credited to an unnamed source: “The new Managing Director was alleged to have colluded with a governor of one of the South East states to pay the sum of N25 billion to the state Ministry of Works to pursue political agenda, which was disguised as funding for projects to be carried out in collaboration with the Commission.”

He said the story also claimed that “Onochie has been confirmed as the Executive Chairman of the board of the NDDC in a letter from the office of Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and that the NDDC has been moved back to the Office of the SGF from the Ministry of Niger Delta to ensure accountability.”

These bogus stories, according to him, are being spread by enemies of the Niger Delta region, who do not want the new board and management of the NDDC to succeed. These concocted stories are meant to sow a seed of discord among members of the board, who are united in their resolve to make a difference in the Niger Delta region.

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