|
Sen. Udo Udoma may become
NDDC
boss as FG sacks
board
Newsdiaryonline Tues Sep 13,2011
Senator Udo Udoma
Members of the board and management of the
Niger Delta Development Commission,NDDC have been
sacked.The embattled board’s sack was contained in a statement
this evening from
the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation
SGF,Anyim Pius Anyim.The statement said President
Goodluck Jonathan has approved the dissolution of the board and
management of NDDC and the management should hand over to the
most senior official.
The statement by Anyim said : “Following
the conclusion of the assignment of the Presidential Committee
to look into the problems facing the Niger Delta Development
Commission (NDDC) and subsequent submission of the report of the
committee, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr.
Goodluck Jonathan, after due consideration of the report has
approved the dissolution of the Board of the NDDC with effect
from today, 13th day of September 2011.
“A new board for the commission will be
reconstituted soon.
“The Managing Director and other Executive
members are to handover all commission’s items in their custody
to the Director of Administration and Human Resources, Mrs.
Osato Areyenka.”
The dissolution came hours after the Steve
oronsaye’s report was submitted to President Jonathan who vowed
that everything would be done to revive the commission.The
president said the era of contractors taking money and not doing
the job awarded by the commission was over.He also said security
agents would look into the issue with a view to ensuring that
funds taken by the contractors are refunded.
Newsdiaryonline learnt that the move was in
concert with the recommendation of the Steve Oronsaye Committee
which recently looked into the crisis rocking the commission.It
was also gathered that the new leadership of the commission may
be headed by Senator Udoma Udo Udoma.This speculation had
been widely known within some circles in Abuja
days before the sack of
the board .This hint,it was learnt ,
actually resulted
in grumblings by some Rivers Indigenes over the fact that
Ugwoah Chibuzor the managing director might lose his post. But
though some sources believed there was the need to battle to
save the past MD, facts later emerged that some stakeholders
from Rivers state who
could have stopped Chibuzor’s ouster had become overwhelmed by
the intrigues.
The key allegations against Chibuzor was
that he transferred
$20million from UK branch of Union Bank
to First
Bank.Investigations by Newsdiaryonline
however revealed that he
actually got the permission of the Accountant General of the
Federation to embark on the transfer in which no fund was lost
,neither was the new account in
First Bank opened in Chibuzor’s name.His critics
even claimed that the sacked MD
awarded contracts
unilaterally,yet another allegation that has turned out to be
substantially false(See the
related story below)
The trouble with the sacked board and
management was that internal bickering-occassioned by selfish
interests of some directors- had stalled team work,thus turning
the commission into
a house divided against
itself.
Related story:
Rumblings At NDDC : The Inside
Story
|
