PUNCH NEWS

The President of the Ijaw National Congress, Prof. Benjamin Okaba, has expressed dismay that the Niger Delta Development Commission has been operating without a substantive board since 2016.

Okaba stated this on Saturday during a live radio interview on Rhythm 94.7FM in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, monitored by our correspondent.

He said the interventionist agency, which was established to tackle the challenges of underdevelopment in the region, had been consistently run by interim administrative structures since 2016.

The INC chief said, “Just imagine, the NDDC, which is one major interventionist agency put in place to address issues of underdevelopment of Niger Delta, has existed without a substantive board since 2016.

“It (the commission) is handed over from one caretaker to another; and without a board, the NDDC is still spending money. It is buying COVID-19 hand gloves with N500m, engaging people. Last week, there was a protest that about 1,000 persons were employed within this period without a board.”