CSOs Demand Release Of The NDDC Forensic Investigation

Civil Society activists in the Niger Delta have called for the release of the report of the federal government forensic investigation on activities at the Niger Delta Development Commission following revelations of massive corruption in the intervention agency.
Stakeholders at the 2024 Situation Room put together by HEDA in collaboration with the National Human Rights Commission, NHRC in Port Harcourt Thursday April 18, 2024, decried the silence over the report to a critical agency to develop Niger Delta communities.
Raising the call, Comrade Celestine Akpobari, member of the governing board of HYPRE lamented that everything in the region is being drained through a pipe to the center, while the citizens walk on top the pipe to pick garbage for survival.
“The land no longer supports livelihood. All in the Niger Delta are in the pipe and the people are walking on top to pick garbage for survival. Intervention agencies placed here, NDDC, Presidential Amnesty, etc., are being used to further siphon what is left”.
He pointed out that of the 13,770 projects awarded by the NDDC, 12,000 were phantom projects, to buttress his claim as he declared it was time to demand for the NDDC forensic investigation report to be made public.
The CSOs decried the underhand manner the federal government is handling the divestment process by oil majors insisting that it is criminal to attempt a move away from onshore drilling without remediation of legacy spill sites or decommissioning.
They called for a halt to divestment until contending issues especially on restoration of degraded environment are adequately addressed.