CSO Calls Buhari to Freeze NDDC Account

Civil Society Organisation, CSO, has requested President Muhammadu Buhari to freeze the account of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC.

Johnson Kolawale, the Head, Directorate of Research, Strategy, and Programme, who made the call at a news conference on Monday in Abuja, added that the president should also suspend all further spending in the commission.

He alleged that plans were ongoing to make fraudulent expenditures by top officials in the commission.

According to him, the commission has squandered an additional nine billion Naira in the last one month.

“We call on President Muhammadu Buhari, the National Assembly, and genuine security and anti-corruption agencies to immediately freeze the accounts of the commission and apprehend everyone involved in the continuous scandalous pillaging of the agency’s treasury.

“It gladdens the heart to note that some of the commission’s officials are already refunding part of their loot to government’s recovery coffers. “The Presidency also pre-emptively disowned the commission’s management over the latter’s impunity in extra-budgetary spending yet ongoing.

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“However, decisive steps must be taken urgently to end the audacious and unprecedented looting under a government that professes to be fighting corruption. “After all, we all bear the consequences of the despicable actions of officials in government,” he said.

Kolawale said that in addition to the N1.5 billion already spent on members of staff of the commission as palliatives for COVID-19, another N340 million had been spent for the same reason.

He stressed the need for every member of staff or appointee to refund the monies collected to the commission’s account.