Stakeholders in the Niger Delta have asked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to act on the forensic audit report of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
The stakeholders – Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF); Ijaw National Congress (INC); Future Nigeria Movement (FNM) and others – said those who plundered the commonwealth of their region should not be shielded.
According to them, it would amount to an act of injustice and a waste of billions of naira used in conducting the audit without bringing those indicted to justice.
Former President Muhammadu Buhari ordered the audit of the commission from 2001 to 2019
In 2021, the report of the investigation was submitted to by Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, who was then Niger Delta Affairs minister.
No action was taken on the report till the former President ended his tenure on May 29.
The stakeholders yesterday said that making the forensic audit public would serve as deterrent to others.
INC President Prof. Benjamin Okaba, who urged the Federal Government to publish the report, noted that in an ideal situation, the names of persons, who allegedly plundered the commission, should be published.
He expressed confidence that the Tinubu administration will muster the courage and act on the report.
He said: “In an ideal situation, names of those, who allegedly plundered the commission should be published. But in reality, can that be done? In the circumstances that we find ourselves in this country, can that be done?
“Normally, if you say you have an audit report, you should publish the report. An audit is to examine where things went wrong and you have to correct them. And how do you correction when in the first place, you are unable to identify the persons who must have been involved in some infractions? Is it possible?
“Even the audit generally should have been a template for people to learn from. Where did the previous administration go wrong and what do we do moving toward, that is the essence of an audit. Also, auditing of the NDDC or any other government parastatals should be a routine business. You don’t need to suspend a board before you carry out an audit.”
PANDEF’s Publicity Secretary, Rev. Ken Robinson, said the report, though not made public was riddled with fallacies.
He said when the idea of the forensic audit was mooted in 2019, the group supported the idea as it was expected to bring about greater transparency in the management of the interventionist body.
