By Michael Ilaya
The Managing Director of the NDDC, Dr Samuel Ogbuku, has restated the commitment of the Commission to continue to partner donor agencies and major stakeholders across the Niger Delta region in critical areas of development within communities as members of the NDDC mandate states.
Ogbuku stated this at a World Press briefing held Monday 7th July, 2025 on the occasion for the celebration of 25 years of making a difference in the Niger Delta region at Dome Event Centre, Asaba, Delta State, adding that the NDDC is always open and willing to partner with donor agencies, state governments, key stakeholders to the benefit of the people of the region, as it is their entitlement to also benefit as one of the NDDC mandate states.
The NDDC Chief Executive Officer presenting his two years score card said the Commission being an offshoot of the Defunct Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC) came into being through an Act of parliament, saying that “NDDC is very, very special, because is a product of an act that belongs to the people. So because it belongs to the people, it was actually in response to the crisis in the Niger Delta Area as at then”.
Ogbuku who also used the opportunity to highlight the institutional reforms and the successes recorded by the Commission under his leadership, pointing out that the NDDC, poised to sanitise the commission in different facets, has transited from transaction to transformation to better the lives of Niger Delta people.
“We sign a performance bond during our retreat in Ikota to ensure that, yes, there is an agreement between the Board and Management and the President. Under that guidance, we decided to go to work. What did we do first? Having gotten the directives from the President on what we need to do and spreading the renewed hope agenda in the Niger Delta, we decided to engage the stakeholders.
“We met with chiefs, traditional rulers, leaders of the region. We met with youths, we met with women, trying to pick their brains and getting their thoughts on what they think we should do as a new board and management that will really befit what the Niger Delta people deserve.
“Having gotten there, and having gotten the ideas, we also decided to put all these together to form our work plan for the NDDC. We now decided to Xray where was NDDC before we came in, and where we want NDDC to go to; we decided to come up with the idea of rewind to the back policy.
“The rewind to the back policy, what we came up with was to ensure that we go back to where NDDC started from. Look at the mistakes of the past, the challenges of the past. Look at possible areas where we can also improve on the success of the past and correct those mistakes.
“We decided to engage previous management, especially the past MDs and Chairmen of Board to get that direction. We did that successfully.
“Having gone through the rewind of the past, we were able to see the challenges before us and also the prospects. We decided to now come up with the policy of transiting from transaction to transformation.
“When we say transiting from transaction to transformation, this is actually built on the basis of the renewed hope agenda, because we believe for NDDC to progress faster, we needed a lot more of transparency, and transparency is what brings about probity and accountability.
We look at those areas where we have failed.
“We have to look at our contracting process, our procurement process, first thing first, that is one area where people are accused. NDDC, in the past, we decided to digitalize our procurement process by ensuring that nobody can fake our award letter.
“Today, if you have the NDDC award letter, you snap the backward, you will know that, yes, nobody can come back to you to say, they gave me fake award. We decided to sanitize every process that was actually giving NDDC a bad name, starting from procurement, we digitalize that.
“We also decided that on assumption of office, on our very first management meeting, we realized that we had put 50 persons in management room. And when you look at the Act, the NDDC Act recognized specifics”.
The Managing Director, speaking further said the sanitizing the organization of the NDDC did not end with restructure, that “we did not just only leave it at that level, having done that, we decided to also engage KPMG to design our governance advisory policy, because we believe the life of every organization like NDDC, if there is no corporate governance policy guiding the institution, whatever we do today, those coming in future will come and abuse it again.
“So we decided to institutionalize most of these policies by getting KPMG to come and at least design our governance advisory policy. That document as I speak, it is ready. The SOPs are ready. We are waiting to get a date that we are going to launch this document where we are going to invite all of you again to be part of it, so that you can also have our handbook that will tell you when the MD is doing wrong, when the Board is also going above the boundaries.
“Because for now, NDDC is only being guided by the Act, the act alone cannot really run an organization. That is why we need a governance advisory service to help us to also deal with the donor agencies and most of the IOCs that are dealing with our partners so that they can see even compliance, because it’s going to bring about compliance in whatever we do.
“Because NDDC of our future is to go beyond just brick and mortar of building roads, we also want to enlarge our coast by also getting funding from donor agencies and other foreign organizations to come to the aid of the management. And for you to do that, they must see transparency. They must also see compliance. That is why we’re putting all these structures together.
Speaking further on the output of staff, Ogbuku said that the staff of the Commission at the time they took over, the staff morale was very low, adding that We felt there is no way we can move at the pace we wanted to move if the staff are not willing to move with us and the challenges they had, the staff of NDDC, most of them for four years there was no promotion exam, no promotion, their promotion was stagnated.
“The staff of NDDC for four years, their allowances were not paid. So moral was very, very low. So through the directive of the Board and the discussion with management, we came together, and I just want to say, in one year, within that one year, we paid off all outstanding arrears of entitlements to the staff of NDDC, and as I speak today, we are up to date based on our payment and our commitments to our staff”
Ogbuku stated that with the payment of the outstanding arrears of entertainments, the staff were spurred up and ready to work, emphasizing that “they became committed, and we also decided to take advantage of their commitment, and in trying to also ensure that we comply with President directives.
“We looked at the few projects that were abandoned that NDDC needed to complete and commission. We looked at some bold projects. First, the electrical project, which that project was to give light to the entire Ondo south. The entire Ondo South was the darkness of 15 years started that project. We gave the contractor all his support.
“And as you know, last year, that project was commissioned. Today, the people of Ondo South enjoy 24 hours power supply. In Edo state. We also completed another injection substation, which was completed and commissioned in Akwa Ibom.
“We’re also fired up to also take some more new projects, because we felt we needed a balance between completing old projects and also carrying out new projects. So also looked at new projects that also make meaning to the people on the Niger Delta.
“And we tasked ourselves that whatever project we start, let us be sure that we are going to finish those projects. So a few of those projects were the projects that you saw us commissioning this year.
“This year, we took 10 kilometers of the part of Abraka to Benin road, which on the first phase we completed that part.
Then we also commissioned a 7.5 kilometer of road in one day in Imo state. Then we also went to Gopigo in rivers state another 7.5 kilo network of roads, which we commissioned recently the training center and we also open our state office”.
The Managing Director emphasised that his narratives are his performance for two years stating that “All these things I’m telling you are things that have happened within the last two years. That does not mean in the last 25 years, NDDC have not done much, but I believe what the media here wants to hear from us is what we have done in the last three years”.
He said that NDDC management is in discussion with critical stakeholders like NNPC, Chevron, NLNG on a sustainable partnership for infrastructural development projects across the region.
“And you see, going forward, we are also committed, most of them into partnership, like we are discussing with Chevron for Delta State, how to construct the marginal Escravos road, which is about 67 kilometers long and several bridges. And we felt, let us do it in partnership with NLNG.
“We have met with the Delta State Government, and Chevron. The Delta State Government is winning Chevron. I think they are willing, but they are also trying to get their partners, which is NNPC, on board to that effect. So we have met five times, and they can see the seriousness on the part of NDDC.
“So these are the things we are doing. So we are saying, don’t wait for us to come and carry out projects in areas of your operations. The ones we can do together, let us do together, because you also contributing towards the funding of NDDC.
So right now, they have our confidence, they know that, yes, the NDDC that they know today is different from the NDDC they used to know yesterday.
“This NDDC is NDDC under the renewed hope of Mr. President that has brought hope to the people of the Niger Delta, and they, too, they are willing to also contribute more.
“So I can assure you that their contributions have increased and it has improved for the Federal government. Federal government has also improved on their funding to the NDDC, that is what I can say, I cannot stay here and accuse the federal government of stifling our fund, under this present administration, I can assure you, has funded NDDC ten times more than other governments”.
