President Muhammadu Buhari
The Federal Government will initiate criminal investigations, prosecution and funds recovery against contractors, firms and politicians indicted by the forensic audit of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
President Muhammadu Buhari made this statement when he received the NDDC audit report from the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio.
According to him, the Federal Government will apply the law to remedy the deficiencies outlined in the report.
Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), who represented the President, noted that the government was concerned about the colossal losses due to uncompleted and unverified projects in the Niger Delta.
The President noted that N6trillion was given to the NDDC since its creation in 2001 without significant impact.
He said: “It is on record that between 2001 and 2019, the Federal Government has approved N3,375,735,776,794.93 as budgetary allocation and N2,420,948,894,191.00 as income from statutory and non-statutory sources, which brings the total figure to the sum of approximately N6trillion given to the NDDC.
“It is in the broader context of the foregoing developments that the President recently signed into law, the Petroleum Industry Act which has been a contentious issue over the years for successive governments, to bring about prudence and accountability in the Petroleum Sector.
“The report on the forensic audit of the NDDC and your recommendations will, therefore, be critically analysed for necessary action and implementation.
“We owe it a duty to the people of the Niger Delta region to improve their standard of living through the provision of adequate infrastructural and socio-economic development.”
The President has directed that the forensic audit report be forwarded to the Ministry of Justice for legal review.
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