An estimated N224 billion due to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) but held back by the immediate past administration has �expired,� President Umaru Yar’Adua has told Senators from the Niger Delta region.
This drew flak immediately from the South-South Senators who had gone for a meeting with the President last Wednesday at the Presidential Villa, blamimg it on the immediate past administration of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.
The all-important talk was also attended by some senior administration officials including the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Ambassador Babagana Kingibe, and the Chief of Staff to the President, Major-General Abdullahi Mohammed.
President Yar’Adua equally expressed his frustration at the militancy fanned by some youths in the region.
He lamented that continued violence was denying the region needed development, noting the increasing reluctance by many construction companies to take jobs in the region.
The expiration of the funds, the President said, was hinged on the administration�s policy of returning all unspent funds to the treasury.
Nearly all Senators spoken to on the development expressed shock at the pronouncement, though one of them, Senator Ehigie Uzamere (PDP, Edo South) in his reaction agreed with the President, saying it was in consonance with the new administration�s policy on unspent funds.
However, Uzamere castigated the administration of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo for the action.
The money accrued from the years of under-funding of the NDDC by the immediate past administration when the Obasanjo administration paid an average of 30 per cent of its obligations to the NDDC.
�Due to non-adherence to the law, N224 billion was left unpaid to the NDDC within the last seven years. In most cases, the NDDC got N26 billion annually instead of N93 billion,� Mr. Timi Alaibe, Managing Director of the NDDC, told Senators on retreat in Port Harcourt last year.
Optimism that the funds could be released was fuelled by a September 6, 2007 presidential pronouncement that the funding of the NDDC would strictly be done according to the NDDC Act.
Vanguard, however, gathered that opposition to the release of the outstanding funds was fanned by some people from outside the Niger Delta region.
While lamenting the twist in the stance of the Federal Government, many of the Senators who spoke on the condition of anonymity blamed it on former President Obasanjo who they said withheld the fund in the first place.
�I agreed with Mr. President because the law says that all unspent money appropriated in 2007 and beyond is expected to be returned to the treasury, Senator Uzamere told Vanguard in a text message”, weekend.
�If the Senate President returned N7 billion why not and it shows the love the previous government had for us in the Niger Delta,” Senator Uzamere said, echoing the sentiment of his colleagues on Obasanjo�s lack of commitment to the development of the region.
Besides the outstanding fund which left many of the Senators dazed, the unrelenting violence in some sections of the Niger Delta was raised at the meeting with all participants agreeing that the violence was denying the region the needed development.
The President was said to have told them that construction companies now seek a premium upon the average cost of doing business in the region for the purpose of enhancing security.
Presidential spokesman, Mr. Segun Adeniyi, could not be reached at press time on the latest development.
Jan222008