President Muhammadu Buhari has sent a letter to the Senate requesting a hold on the inauguration of the new board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
Senate President Ahmad Lawan read the letter on Tuesday during plenary.
President Buhari said the move was necessary to enable the interim management committee of the agency to conclude its current forensic auditing.
He promised to send a fresh list of nominees for the NDDC board to the Senate.
Part of the letter read: “The Senate is invited to note that while the process of composition and senate confirmation of the appointment of the board was on-going, I had directed that the forensic audit of the commission be carried out, which is being overseen by the constituted interim management team.
“Based on this and in order to allow for an uninterrupted process of forensic investigation, the board appointment confirmed by the Senate has to be put on hold.
“This is to allow the interim team to continue to manage the commission pending the outcome of the forensic audit. Thereafter, a new board of the commission will be re-composed for the confirmation by the Senate.”
The nominees on the NDDC board confirmed by the Senate last November are Dr. Pius Odubu, Chairman; Bernard Okumagba (Delta), Managing Director; Otobong Ndem (Akwa Ibom), Executive Director of Projects; Maxwell Oko (Bayelsa), Executive Director of Finance and Administration; Jones Erue (Delta); Victor Ekhator (Edo); Nwogu N Nwogu (Abia) and Theodore Allison (Bayelsa).
Others are Victor Antai (Akwa Ibom), Maurice Effiwat (Cross River), Olugbenga Edema (Ondo), Uchegbu Kyrian (Imo), Aisha Muhammed (North West); Shuaibu Zubairu (North East) and Abdullahu Bage (North Central).
