Buhari will stop poor funding of NDDC – Oshiomole

Governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole, has assured the Niger Delta Development Commission that President Muhammadu Buhari will stop the problem of the commission’s poor funding.

Oshiomhole explained that the current leadership of the country would enforce the statutory obligations of the Federal Government to the NDDC unlike previous administrations, adding that Buhari will comply with the laws guiding the funding of the commission.



The governor spoke at the Government House in Benin while receiving members of the Board of the commission, who paid him a courtesy visit on Monday.

In a statement signed by the Head, Corporate Affairs of the NDDC, Mr. Toye Abosede, and issued in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, Oshiomhole explained that the people of the Niger Delta region were expecting much from the commission as a result of the challenges facing them.

He pointed out that the people of the oil rich region were still facing the problem of oil pollution and other forms of environmental hazards.

According to him, “The current leadership of the country, unlike the previous administrations, will enforce the laws concerning the statutory obligations of the Federal Government to the NDDC.

“The expectations of the people of the Niger Delta from the NDDC is very high because of the varied challenges facing the inhabitants of the oil-producing region, especially with respect to oil and gas pollution as well as environmental hazards.

“The South-South Governors’ Forum will soon meet to articulate the way forward for the region. The governors from the South-South share a common passion with NDDC for the development of the region,” the governor said.

Earlier, the chairman of the NDDC Board, Senator Bassey Ewa-Henshaw, lamented that the activities of the commission were being hampered by funding challenges.

Ewa-Henshaw specifically said that over N800bn due to the interventionist agency had been withheld over the years, adding that N45bn ecological funds accruing to the NDDC was also outstanding.

The NDDC Chairman explained that the withheld funds arose from the non-compliance with the Act establishing the commission.

Senator Ewa-Henshaw stated that the NDDC had since inception been getting 10 per cent instead of the statutory provision of 15 per cent from the Federal Government.

He appealed to the governors of the states covered by the NDDC to push for the proper funding of the commission by the Federal Government and the oil companies.

The chairman regretted that major legacy projects that would have given the economy of the region a boost had suffered because of inadequate funding.

He said that the current NDDC Board inherited about 7,000 projects and a liability in excess of N1tr, including Interim Payment Certificates that were not paid.

Ewa-Henshaw said that in spite of inadequate funds, the Board of the Commission had recorded some remarkable achievements in the completion of projects and the execution of development programmes.

“We have so far completed and commissioned five university hostel projects, awarded 1,021 overseas scholarships for Master degrees and PhD programmes in Engineering and Sciences. Several other inherited projects are also in the process of being completed,” the chairman said.

Members of the board, who visited the Edo State governor, are Sir Bassey Dan-Abia, the Managing Director; Dr. Henry Ogiri, the Executive Director, Finance; Mr. Tuoyo Omatsuli, the Executive Director, Projects of the NDDC