The Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, Dr Musa Aliyu, SAN, has called for a structured joint document with the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, through a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, to establish operational standards, strengthen accountability, and check the incidence of corruption in the Commission.
Aliyu who made the call when the Executive Management Committee of the NDDC, led by the Managing Director, Dr Samuel Ogbuku, paid him courtesy visit in the office in Abuja, insisted that if there was any Federal Government agency that needed strengthening of its transparency policy it should be the NDDC because of its large budget and project profile.
The ICPC Chairman stated that his Commission was eager to partner with the NDDC to strengthen its governance structure and ensure the use of preventive mechanisms, thereby preventing leakages. “This is because it can be challenging to recover proceeds of corruption due to the country’s court processes,” he said.
According to the ICPC chairman, the anti-corruption commission would assist in the area of public enlightenment and educating the people on the importance of peace, transparency, and accountability. He insisted that Nigeria should work together to project a good image of the country, as issues of corruption negatively impact the country’s image.
While insisting that the anti-graft agency be included in the governance structure document of the NDDC to align with international best practices, he said that if the Commission works together with the NDDC, they would overcome the challenge of corruption.
Aliyu, who commended the NDDC Managing Director for turning the fortunes of the interventionist agency around for the better, said that as citizens, the responsibility of the people is to help President Bola Tinubu and Nigeria as a country succeed by upholding the country’s good name.
The NDDC Chief Executive Officer, Dr Samuel Ogbuku, while briefing the management of ICPC, thanked the anti-graft agency for recovering some funds for the NDDC, noting that both agencies have come a long way.
Ogbuku stated that the NDDC has made tremendous gains in areas of infrastructural development and social and welfare services.
He stated that the NDDC has adopted partnership as the quickest way to facilitate project delivery, noting that evidence of such partnerships could be seen in the Ogbia-Nembe Road, the engagement with Chevron on the Warri-Escravos Road, and the collaboration with NLNG on the Okrika Ring Road.
The NDDC boss stated that within a short time, the Commission had achieved a great deal by inaugurating key projects across the region and also expanded its foreign scholarship programme.
According to Ogbuku, the NDDC has brought international oil companies and governors in the Niger Delta region into its budget process, which has reduced confrontation between state governors and the Commission.
Ogbuku assured that the NDDC was also carrying out a needs assessment before embarking on projects in the communities. He said it was based on such a needs assessment that the Commission embarked on the Operation Light Up the Niger Delta, which has remained one of its most successful programmes. He noted that the project had reduced criminality in the communities and improved the economic and social well-being of the people.
He observed: “The next phase of the massive people-oriented programme is the provision of portable drinking water, as most communities lack access to it. While we are doing this, we are also backing it up with heavy infrastructural projects, as President Tinubu had directed that all abandoned projects be completed”
