Senate Confirms 15 As NDDC Board Members, Rejects Nunieh

BY VICTOR BUORO, ABUJA – The Senate on Tuesday confirmed the nomination of 15 of the 16 names forwarded to it by President Muhammadu Buhari as members of the Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

The confirmed nominees are Dr. Pius Odubu (Edo), Chairman; Bernard Okumagba (Delta), Managing Director; Engr. Otobong Ndem (Akwa-Ibom), Executive Director (Projects); Maxwell Oko (Bayelsa), Executive Director, Finance and Admin; Jones Erue (Delta), and Chief Victor Ekhator (Edo).

The others include Nwogu N. Nwogu (Abia), Theordore Allison (Bayelsa), Victor Antai (Akwa-Ibom), Maurice Effiwatt (Cross River), Olugbenga Edema (Ondo), Hon. Uchegbu Chidiebere Kyrian (Imo), Aisha Murtala Muhammed (Kano), Shuaibu Ardo Zubairu (Adamawa), and Ambassador Abdullahi Bage (Nasarawa).

The upper chamber however rejected the nomination of Dr. Joy Yimebe Nunieh, as nominee representing Rivers State on the board.

Chairman, Senate Committee on NDDC, Senator Peter Nwaoboshi, in his presentation of his committee’s report, explained that the committee sent an invitation to the nominee twice to attend the screening exercise last week, adding that the nominee on both occasions refused to appear before the panel for screening.

The Senate NDDC Committee chairman drew the attention of the upper chamber to the three-man Interim Management Committee to oversee the affairs of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

According to him, the nominee, Dr. Joy Yimebe Nunieh is Acting Managing Director of the Interim Committee which has Dr. Cairo Ojougboh as Acting Executive Director, Projects and Chief Ibanga Bassey Etang as the Acting Executive Director, Finance and Administration.

Following the committee’s report, the Senate in a committee of the whole, unanimously rejected the nomination of Nunieh as nominee representing Rivers State over her refusal to appear before the Senate’s NDDC panel for screening.

In his remarks, the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, while speaking on the existence of the interim committee to oversee the NDDC said, “I think there’s no ambiguity in this matter. Mr. President sent to the Senate his request for us to confirm his nominees.

“As soon as they (nominees) are confirmed, I’m sure any other structure that exists now is vitiated. I don’t think we have anything to worry about, because this is something that is clearly established by the law.”

Lawan tasked the Senate Committee on NDDC on the need to properly oversight the commission as soon as the new board takes over the management of the agency.

He said; “The NDDC is a special case. We recall that the President had cause to ask for a total probe of what happened with the finances of the NDDC. We are supposed to continually oversight wherever public funds are put out for the development of the country.”