13,777 contracts awarded from 2001 to 2019 but not completed, says Akpabio
• Federal Government will implement all aspects of the audit – Buhari
• Decries NDDC’S 362 Bank Accounts, lack of proper reconciliation of accounts
• Begins criminal investigations, prosecution, recovery of funds not properly utilized for the public purposes
President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday vowed to launch criminal investigation into 13,777 compromised projects of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, as he received the final report of the forensic audit of the commission.
Buhari, represented by Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami, received the documents, which were conveyed in sacks and presented by the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio.
In his remarks shortly before he handed over the report, Akpabio, said the forensic audit uncovered a total of 13,777 contracts that were awarded from 2001 to 2019 but not completed.
He put the value of the contracts at over N3 trillion, disclosing that the commission also operated 362 bank accounts which lacked proper reconciliation.
Responding after he received the report, the AGF said: “I welcome you all to the presentation of the report on the forensic audit on the NDDC, which report I am to receive on behalf of President Buhari.
“You will recall the President had ordered a holistic forensic audit of the activities of the commission from inception to August 2019 in response to the yearnings of the people of the Niger Delta to re-position it for effective service delivery.
“It is imperative to state that the call for the audit by the people of the Niger Delta arose from the huge gaps between resources invested in the region vis-a-vis the huge gap in infrastructural, human and economic development.
“It is on record that between 2001 and 2019, the Federal Government has approved N3,375,735,776,794.93; as budgetary allocation and N2,420,948,894,191.00 as income from statutory and non-statutory sources, which brings the total figure to the sum of approximately N6 trillion given to the NDDC.
“Consequently, the Federal Executive Council, FEC, approved the engagement of a Lead Forensic Auditor, as well as 16 reputable audit firms to conduct the audit exercise.
“The President is delighted that the auditors have now completed this exercise and the report is today being presented.
“Furthermore, the President is not oblivious of the interest generated by stakeholders towards the forensic audit exercise and the agitation for the constitution of the Board of the NDDC.
“However, this administration is determined to address challenges militating against the delivery of the mandate of the NDDC to the people of the Niger Delta.
“It is in the broader context of the foregoing developments that the President recently signed into law the Petroleum Industry Act, PIA, which has been a contentious issue over the years for successive governments, to bring about the prudence and accountability in the petroleum sector and to give a sense of participation and ownership to the host communities.
“The report on the forensic audit of the NNDC and your recommendations will, therefore, be critically analysed for necessary action and implementation. It is evident that considerable resources had been channeled by the Federal Government to the development of the Niger Delta from 2001 to 2019.
“It is, therefore, important for the Federal Government and the public to be properly informed of what has been spent and how that has been spent. The essence of the forensic audit is to ensure probity and accountability in the use of public funds.
“It is against this background that the Federal Government will without hesitation strategically implement all aspects of the audit exercise that will promote probity and greater prosperity for the Niger Delta and Nigeria as whole.
“The Federal Government is particularly concerned with the colossal loss occasioned by uncompleted and unverified development projects in the Niger Delta, despite the huge resources made available to uplift the living standard of the citizens.
“We have on record over 13,777 projects, the execution of which is substantially compromised. The Federal Government is also concerned with the multitudes of the commission’s bank accounts amounting to 362 and lack of proper reconciliation of accounts.
“The Federal Government will in consequence apply the law to remedy the deficiencies outlined in the audit report as appropriate.
“This will include but not limited to initiation of criminal investigations, prosecution, recovery of funds not properly utilized for the public purposes for which they were meant for review of the laws to re-position and restructure the NDDC for the efficiency of better service delivery, among others.
“In all these instances of actions, legal due processes will strictly be complied with. The President has directed that the forensic audit report be forwarded to the Federal Ministry of Justice for a legal review and relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, of government will be engaged in doing justice to the findings accordingly.”
Malami commended the Minister of Niger Delta, Akpabio, the Interim Administrator and staff of the NDDC for their support towards the completion of the audit.
He equally commended the lead forensic auditors and the 16 field audit firms for completing the exercise, as well as the security committee for securing the lives and properties of the audit firms throughout the duration of the forensic audit
Reacting to the government’s threat to prosecute those who compromised NDDC contracts, the Pan-Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Ken Robinson, said: “At last, it is okay that the forensic audit is concluded and the report has been submitted.
“So, it is okay that the endless forensic audit has finally ended. The audit which started in 2019 was initially said to be for six months, but this is September 2021, so, that is over two years.
“Concerning the content of what is contained in the findings of the audit, PANDEF would want to take time to study it, there could be variations in conclusions that are unacceptable to us, conclusions to perhaps make Niger Delta look unserious but fact remains that those who get contracts from Niger Delta, from NDDC in particular, go to Abuja to get a note from one person in Aso Rock or from one Emir for you to get a job in NDDC.
“There are some insinuations that what comes to NDDC through the front door goes back to Abuja through the back doors, so with all that kind of background, PANDEF will carefully study the report and we hope it will be made public.
“They should try and make it public for those who want to see it, in case nobody comes up to give any judgment to blackmail Niger Delta people. We won’t accept that, no matter who is doing it.
“We know a lot of critics have been involved, a lot of drama has been involved in this NDDC matter and there are attempts to perpetuate illegality. Now that the audit report has been submitted, we hope there would be no excuse again to delay and keep in place the interim arrangement in the NDDC.
“We want a substantive NDDC board to be immediately nominated and inaugurated, we want it to cease being a place of political patronage and rewarding royalties. He (President Buhari) should appoint people with integrity, people with good track record of commitment to community development.
“To the content of how much has been given to the Niger Delta, or how much project has been compromised, there have been phantom projects, projects that do not exist, or projects that exist only paper, people awarded projects just on paper and then collect money, those are not new gist, we are aware of all that.
“Who are the people doing all these, these are politicians, those in the corridors of power, people appointed to be MD or board chairman because they are friends of those in Aso Rock, not because they can do the job and then they check around and play politics. That narrative must stop.
“This is true because we have been saying things that are just not baseless statements, these are verifiable statements that we knew went on in the Niger Delta. It is a commission for political patronage, a commission for a reward for loyalty, it was a cash cow for elections, so projects were thrown up, imaginary projects, phantom projects were thrown up just for people to divert the money for political purpose.
“That is what has been going on. And all of them are involved, the Presidency is involved. I advise the Presidency not to be selective, it should not be in the usual discriminative and bias manner.
“Anybody that is involved, no matter how highly placed, whether he is a friend of the president or not, whether he is an APC chieftain or not, if the law should be applied, it should be applied dispassionately without bias and discrimination, there should be no sacred cows.
‘’PANDEF, from inception, has said that the audit report should be made public and all those who have defrauded the Niger Delta should be punished, we want to see the names of the companies and those behind the companies, that is our position. If it is selective, we will resist it.”

Secondus fights back, accuses Rivers people of plotting to destroy PDP
Embattled National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Uche Secondus says only the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party has powers to discipline him or any member of the National Working Committee (NEC).
Secondus stated this in a statement by his Media Aide, Mr Ike Abonyi, in Abuja while reacting to his suspension by his ward executives in Rivers State.
He said that Article 59(3) of the PDP Constitution stated clearly that only the NEC has such power to discipline NEC members of the party.
He said that Article 59(3) of the PDP Constitution stated clearly that only the NEC has such power to discipline NEC members of the party.
“The media office of Secondus ordinarily should not be responding to every ‘noise’ in the media being engineered by those who set out to distract and destroy the PDP.
“But it is our responsibility to guide those who are easily persuaded by news in the media, hence this response.
“Such action is a mere wish as Article 59(3) of the PDP constitution states clearly that only the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party can discipline the National Chairman or any other National officer of the party,” he said.
He urged members of the public and the media to be wary of agents who were out to distract the PDP from its focus of rescuing Nigeria.

LAGOS STATE GOVERNMENT
OFFICE OF THE CHIEF PRESS SECRETARY TO THE GOVERNOR
PRESS RELEASE

TOWN PLANNERS RANK LAGOS AS MOST PLANNED STATE

•Sanwo-Olu Hosts Management Team of Nigerian Institute of Town Planners
Lagos State has been rated top among States in the federation having advanced town planning framework that complies with the national Urban and Regional Planning Laws of 2004.
The Nigerian Institute of Town Planners passed the vote of confidence on Lagos, noting that the State had gone far ahead of others in domesticating the national town planning legislation and setting up administrative structures to coordinate its planning in accordance with the laws.
The rating was shared with Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu when the Institute’s national president, Mr. Oluwatoyin Ayinde, led management team members on a courtesy visit to the Governor at the State House, Marina, on Thursday.
Sanwo-Olu acknowledged the Institute’s feedback on the State’s town planning effort, saying the progress indicated Lagos was on the right track towards improving livability for its residents.
In spite of the headway, the Governor said the State still had a lot of work to do in the areas of building control, fast-tracking access to building approvals and signing off on regional plans’ implementation.
He said: “We fully understand how critical the town planning profession is to our development. If we fail to have proper land use administration, proper town planning rules, implementable regional plans and means of creating what our livable space is meant to be, we would probably be doing a disservice to our State. This is why we are strengthening structures put in place to address the situation and achieve improvement.
“I welcome the generous feedback from the Institute of Town Planners, which commended Lagos Government on the progress we have recorded so far after domesticating national Town Planning laws. Indeed, we can do a lot more.
“In some rankings that came out recently, Lagos is still not where it is meant to be in terms of Livability Space Ranking in which they assessed the State based on access to building approval, infrastructure, contracts and enforcement of regulatory standards. We still have a lot of ground to cover around building control, planning approval and regional plans.”
The Governor said Lagos was developing faster than the projection of the Government, given the number of people that came into the State daily and a deluge of applications regularly received on developments’ approvals.
In response, Sanwo-Olu said the State Government had started to decentralise all the processes of getting approvals for structural developments by ceding authority to district offices that would act on behalf of the Government. He added that the effort was being supported by regeneration activities across several communities to bring back the lost glory of the State.
He said: “We have recently just approved the procurement of state-of-the-art software that can fast-track the front-end and back-end activities and improve time for getting approval. Once this software is launched, there would be quick turnaround in submission and processing of approvals.”
Sanwo-Olu said his administration would consider the possibility of creating the Office of Town Planner General for the State to help sustain the achievement recorded and also help future Governments in their planning blueprint.
Ayinde said Lagos was rated first among 17 other States, because of the sustainability of its planning framework, stressing that the State had created structures to meet the national standards.
The Town Planners’ president said the recruitment of 70 professional town planners into the civil service was another pace-setting decision taken by the Lagos Government in achieving coordinated development in the State.
Ayinde praised Sanwo-Olu for strengthening the State’s planning laws, urging the Governor to pay attention to the implementation of Lagos’ development master plan and regional plans.

SIGNED
GBOYEGA AKOSILE
CHIEF PRESS SECRETARY
SEPTEMBER 2, 2021
LAGOS STATE GOVERNMENT
OFFICE OF THE CHIEF PRESS SECRETARY TO THE GOVERNOR
PRESS RELEASE

SANWO-OLU CHARGES YOUTHS TO BE GLOBAL LEADERS

The Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu has charged Nigerian youths, especially those living in the State to be global ambassadors and real leaders of tomorrow.

Governor Sanwo-Olu, who reiterated his administration’s commitment to programmes that would benefit youths, said Lagos State Government would create a platform for youths in the State to be global leaders and not divisional leaders.

Speaking on Thursday during a courtesy visit by the Lagos State and divisional youth ambassadors at the Lagos House, Marina, Governor Sanwo-Olu said his administration is building a great future for the youths and other Lagosians with various interventions under the THEMES agenda.

The Lagos State and divisional youth ambassadors are winners of the annual IBILE Youth Academy leadership programme, which started four years ago.

Governor Sanwo-Olu urged the Lagos State Youth Ambassador, Funmilayo Akanni-shelle and the divisional ambassadors – Aminat Onike-Azeez (Ikeja), Selome Hunpatin (Badagry), Gbolabo Femi-Jolayemi (Ikorodu), Qudus Shodunke (Lagos) and AbdulRahman Saheed (Epe) to use the platform given to them to touch lives and create the future that they will all be proud of.

He said: “We are not only building youths for greatness but to be real champions and advocates in their various communities and leaders of tomorrow.

“We are creating a platform for our youths not just to be divisional ambassadors or state ambassadors but global ambassadors because the future is about the youth.

“What we are doing with all of our interventions in Lagos State under the THEMES agenda is providing the future from today. Everything you see us do in the area of traffic management, health, environment, education, technology, security and infrastructural development is to make sure that the future is better than today.”

Speaking earlier, the Lagos State Youth Ambassador, Funmilayo Akannishelle, commended Governor Sanwo-Olu and the State Government for providing a platform for them through the IBILE Youth Academy leadership programme.

She said the IBILE Youth Academy leadership programme has changed them mentally and made them to be better people, adding that the training has also motivated them to work toward building a Nigeria the youth would be proud of.

She said: “I want to appreciate Lagos State Government for the IBILE Youth Academy leadership programme. I believe it is something that other states should emulate. It is a programme that will go a long way to improve and incorporate leadership qualities in the youth.

“The IBILE Youth Academy has changed our mentality. It has made us better people and we can now go to our communities with positive charge. We all need to improve our country. We should be patriotic and be proud of our country.”

The ambassadors were presented to the Governor by the Lagos State Commissioner for Youths and Social Development, Mr. Olusegun Dawodu, supported by Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Youth, Mr. Saheed Akanbi; Director, Youth, Mr. Femi Adetoye and Assistant Director, Youth, Mrs Rasheedat Umar.

SIGNED
GBOYEGA AKOSILE
CHIEF PRESS SECRETARY
SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

Press Release
September 2, 2021
Minister’s Sack Is Diversionary Gimmick to Cover Failure – Reps Minority Caucus
The Minority Caucus in the House of Representatives has dismissed the sack of two ministers by President Muhamamdu Buhari as a diversionary strategy to divert public attention from the myriads of failures of the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration in the past six years.

The Minority Caucus and indeed majority of Nigerians are not swayed by the sack of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mohammed Nanono and his Power counterpart, Saleh Mamman, when the inapt and anti-people policies as well as the corruption and lethargic approach to governance that have become the hallmark of the administration remain.

Instead of resorting to unprofitable diversionary stunts, the Minority caucus urges President Buhari to take decisive steps to address worsening insecurity and excruciating economic hardship by ending the incompetence, compromises, corruption, exclusionism and impunity in the system under his watch.
The Minority caucus holds that governance requires commitment, demonstration of capacity, political will power, transparency and broadmindedness at the topmost levels.

As representatives of the people, the Minority caucus urges President Buhari not to continue to stay aloof but to get into the arena by taking urgent steps to address the security issues as well as rejuvenate our nation’s economy and cohesiveness which are collapsing under his administration.
Signed:
Rt. Hon Ndudi Godwin Elumelu
Minority Leader of the House of Representatives