NDDC No Longer Cash Cow for Elite – Onochie

The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) will no longer be a cash cow for the elite, the Chairman of Governing Board, Ms Lauretta Onochie, has said.

She said the days of portfolio contractors and splitting contracts in the agency have ended.

Onochie said the era of corrupt practices in the commission was gone.

She spoke at a dinner organised by Buhari Support Organisations (BSO) in her honour.

According to her, President Muhammadu Buhari has made her job easy by setting anti-corruption standards.

She said: “President Buhari had ordered a forensic audit, and from the result, the nation was angst when they saw the quantum of evidence that was presented during the audit.

“We are not going to be looking at the forensic audit as a board, but we are going to do things differently.

“In the past, it became a cash cow for the elites in the Niger Delta region and beyond, and it is not going to be the same anymore.

“I’m very lucky to be a disciple of President Buhari, who everybody knows is incorruptible and a man that abhors corruption.

“The way he has gone about running this country since 2015 has shown everyone that he means business when it comes to tackling corruption.

“We are going to stand with our people, as our youth are going to benefit massively, and the NDDC staff that have been long-suffering in the region are going to have a new leaf of life.

“They are going to be retrained. Some of the will be hired as technical aides rather than looking elsewhere. We are just going to do things totally differently.

“Our teeming young people, many of whom have graduated for years, have no jobs. People talk about militancy. Why do people go into criminal activities?

“It is because they are not engaged properly, so we are going to train them and equip them with the requisite skills to get their own businesses started, and become employers of labour.”

Chairman of the BSO Coordinators Forum, Umar Shuaibu described Onochie as an incorruptible person who has been tested and trusted.

He is optimistic that she would be a game changer for the Niger Delta region.