The former Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Henry Seriake Dickson, has condemned in strong terms the appointment of a Sole Administrator for the NDDC describing it as an illegality which which should be corrected immediately.
Dickson also suggested that the capital budget of the Niger Delta Development Commission shouldn’t be implemented by the sole administrator who is unknown to the law.
Dickson made the comment on the floor of the Senate during the consideration of the 2020 budget of the NDDC at the Monday Plenary.
As a fallout of his observation, the Senate rejected the appointment of a sole administrator for the commission and resolved to prevail on the Federal Government to ensure immediate constitution of the board of the NDDC.
The Senate agreed that the appointment of a sole administrator for the NDDC was illegal and indeed an aberration and should be corrected immediately.
Dickson suggested that the Senate should add a condition that while the recurrent part of the NDDC budget could be implemented by the sole administrator, the capital budget should not be implemented by the illegal appointee.
According to him, it is regrettable that the administration of the NDDC has become marred by illegalities such as the appointment of an interim management committee to take over from the dissolved board of the commission.
He said that as a Governor and former Chairman of the South South Governors’ Forum, he had supported the efforts to enthrone transparency and accountability in the NDDC and backed the call on the Federal Government to conduct a forensic audit on the commission.
In passing the budget, the President of Senate, Senator Ahmed Lawan, lamented that the Senate was left with the only options of dealing with the Sole Administrator or the IMC both of which are illegal.
The Senate unanimously resolved to pass the budget to ensure the smooth running of the commission while they prevail on the
government to constitute the board of the commission as required by the constitution.
