Bayelsa State Governor, Sen. Douye Diri, has described as “unacceptable”, the 1700 abandoned projects of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) that litter different parts of the state.

Some of the abandoned projects include the Angalabiri-Ebedebiri-Toru-Orua shore protection captured in the commission’s 2020 budget, the Sabagreia-Polaku bridge, and the Akenfa bridge, among others.

Governor Diri, who spoke on Tuesday when the NDDC Interim Administrator, Dr Akwa Effiong, visited him at the Government House in Yenagoa, said the non-collaboration of the commission with catchment states that would advise on priority projects has led to duplication and abandonment of projects.

According to a statement issued on Tuesday by his Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Alabrah, the governor further called on President Muhammadu Buhari to constitute without further delay a substantive board for the commission in accordance with its enabling Act, saying its absence was hindering the commission’s operations.

Diri, who stressed that the interim administrator’s arrangement was alien to the Act and unacceptable to governors of the Niger Delta, noted that the commission has not been able to meet its mandate because of the absence of a substantive board.

The governor, who described the NDDC as an interventionist body created to fill the developmental gap in the Niger Delta, said the governors have also been robbed of their advisory role, which would have enabled the board to embark on people-oriented projects in the region.

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He, however, expressed his administration’s preparedness to work with the commission to foster development in the state.

He said: “We have a very huge stake according to the Act establishing the NDDC and that role is not being played. With the interim administration, there is no board for us to advise.

“There must exist a synergy that will profile these projects before they are conceived. NDDC was not to go into every nook and cranny of states in the region. It should be looking at very large projects, sometimes inter-state projects with mutual agreement and cooperation of the state governments.

“It is my belief that collaborating with the NDDC will create a more robust impression and leave a lasting legacy for our people and generations yet unborn. The NDDC must continue to work closely with governors in the nine states to ensure synergy and avoid duplication of projects and activate the powers of the governors in the board in line with section 2 of the Act establishing it.”

Governor Diri further emphasised that he was against the scrapping of the NDDC but that rather it should be rejigged to enable it to meet its functions.

The governor also appreciated the interim administrator for the donation of a 1000KVA generator and a coaster bus to the state-owned Niger Delta University as well as four waste disposal trucks to the state government.

On his part, Effiong appreciated Diri for his developmental strides, saying he has done well within the short period in office.

He expressed the preparedness of the NDDC to collaborate with the government on the construction of the age-long Nembe-Brass road project that the state had undertaken.

The Star