Convener, South-South Reawakening Group, Joseph Ambakederimo, has said that the senators calling to stand down the Niger Delta Development Commission budget do not mean well for the region.
Ambakederimo, in a statement released weekend, urged the Senate to support the NDDC by passing the 2023 budget as soon as practicable in order for the board to begin implementation in earnest.
According to him, the interest they perceived to show in the affairs of the NDDC will be taken with a pinch of salt, adding that their antics are to hoodwink the public into believing they are altruistic in the first place.
He said “We are not against the idea of calling for accountability and probity, we respect the Senate’s constitutional right to carry out oversight as they wish, what we are saying is do not throw away the baby with the bath water.
“We support beaming the searchlight on the year 2021 and 2022 budgets, call out the managers of the year’s budget in view while the 2023 budget should be passed in order for this newly constituted Board to implement provisions of the budget to meet the aspiration of the people of the region. The Senate should without delay pass the 2023 budget without further delay.
“What the Senate is doing is to inadvertently tie the hands of the board of the NDDC and deny the commission of the much-needed resources to execute projects that will impact the lives of the people of the region going forward. The people of the region shouldn’t be the ones to suffer deprivation of the much-needed infrastructure that will make life better for them.
“There are much more important things the National Assembly should do at this time one of which is to ensure all monies owed the NDDC by the Federal government be released before the expiration of this administration in order for the commission to adequately fund major infrastructure projects in the region such as building and equipping of hospitals, the establishment of industrial Free Zones to cater for Small and Medium scale businesses, hinterland roads to aid the evacuation of farm produce and many more.
“The region is crying for development. We expect the National Assembly to support the substantive board to find more money for the NDDC to be able to deliver on its core mandate to bring succour to the people of the Niger Delta region,” he said.
The statement further noted that these Senators who are up in arms today were beneficiaries of some of these fathom projects that are embedded in the year’s budget in view.
“The records are there so let us not open the can of worms that may turn out to become an albatross hanging over the neck of everyone.
“This same Senate investigated the NDDC in 2021 and 2022 with much fanfare and today we are being told that the NDDC is under investigation again. If we may ask what has come out of the countless investigations so far and if we may recall some Senators were called to question those investigations.
“For us, these investigations have become a circus show with people not taking the National Assembly seriously anymore. It is not healthy for us as a nation if we must hold people to account but so far all investigations carried out by the National Assembly is a charade and often seen by the public as a means to settle scores and arm-twist heads of MDAs of government to part with monies.
“Most probably there could have been carried over critical projects that were not implemented in the previous budgets to the 2023 budget for clear purposes of funding and implementation. This must have been the case for the presentation of the three consecutive years.
“The Senate must also be held to account for dereliction of duty. For us, the Senate has been deliberately sleeping on duty because many of them partake in contributing to the rot we have in the NDDC in the past and all of this grandstanding is geared towards having their hands perpetually in the affairs of the commission. Have they suddenly woken up to their responsibility? They have a greater share of blame on issues affecting the NDDC today,” the statement read..
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