The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio has presented the final report of the forensic audit of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, to President, Muhammadu Buhari.
The minister while presenting the documents conveyed in 17 Ghana Must Go bags to the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, who represented Buhari, however, pleaded with Mr. President to take urgent action on the recommendation of the report.
Akpabio disclosed that the auditors have concluded the examination and documentation of a total 13,777 contracts for projects and programmes awarded to Contractors and consultants in all Niger Delta States from 2001-August 2019, at a total final contract value of N 3,274.206,032,213.24.
He said the name and identity of a vast number of beneficiary companies were also captured as well.
According to him, “Via Field Verification, the Forensic Auditors established the exact status of all contracts for projects and programmes in all constituent states during the period under review classified into completed, ongoing, abandoned, terminated, taken-over and non-existence.”
The Minister disclosed that the auditors also focused on funding gaps, Irregularities, mismanagements and Due Process Violations/Conflicts of interest.
“A Personnel Audit and Review of the governance and organisational structure of NDDC was also carried out.
An operational guideline/Manual and a fit-for-purpose organogram that would aid the transformation of NDDC to a globally competitive development agency have been developed as well.
“Available financial records of the commission were analyzed with the aim of establishing the total amount of funds received by the Commission from all sources, both statutory and non-statutory and the total funds and other resources paid to contractors as well as the total amount outstanding as debts with regards to such projects within the period under reference.
“The Auditors have also provided policy recommendations, in terms of measures that should be taken to ensure the prevention of such irregularities and mismanagement, going forward.
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