Buhari Appoints Interim Administrator For NDDC

Buhari Appoints Interim Administrator For NDDC

President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday appointed Mr. Effiong Akwa as interim administrator for the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, disclosed this in a statement titled “NDDC gets interim administrator.”

Mr Akwa is the Commission’s Acting Executive Director, Finance and Administration.

He is expected to assume leadership of the NDDC until the completion of the forensic audit ordered by the President.

The statement read, “President Buhari approves interim administrator for the NDDC. He is Mr Effiong Okon Akwa, the Ag. Executive Director, Finance and Administration of the Commission, who is to assume headship till completion of the forensic audit.”

“Mr Akwa is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

“The development became necessary as a result of a plethora of litigation and a restraining order issued recently against the Interim Management Committee of the NDDC by a Federal High Court in Abuja.”

Buhari ordered a forensic audit of the NDDC in October 2019 following persistent allegations of financial misappropriation within the development agency.

In February, the President appointed Professor Kemebradikumo Pondei, as Acting Managing Director of the NDDC.

However, Pondei has also faced allegations of misconduct. He slumped in July during a House of Representatives committee hearing.

This month, a Federal High Court in Abuja granted an order to restrain Pondei and others from performing NDDC board functions.

Mr Akwa’s appointment is expected to fill in the gap created by the legal restrictions, Mr Adesina said.