Financial Transparency Will Guarantee Investments For NDDC– – Wabote

The enthronement of transparency at the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) is the only way to attract the private sector to support and return the NDDC to sustainable development.

According to the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Simbi Wabote, the NDDC should project itself positively through its choice of signature projects and interventions and open its accounts and project sites for public scrutiny.

Wabote disclosed this at the NDDC Public-Private Partnership Summit 2023 held in Lagos on Tuesday.

He revealed that the NDDC has diverse sources of funding, including the federation account, and it would be expected to demonstrate financial ingenuity before it could leverage more capital.

Wabote said, “Capital is very shy and avoids controversies like a plague. In a situation where there are real or perceived infractions, corruption, lack of accountability, and other vices, the capital attraction becomes a big challenge.

“The NDDC has diverse sources of funding, some of which include the federation account, oil producing companies, state governments, and local or international grants, thus the commission would be expected to demonstrate financial ingenuity before it could leverage for more capital.

“For clarity, transparency, prudent management of financial resources, and deployment of a new master plan are some of the strategies that would attract the private sector to support the NDDC and return the agency to the path of sustainable development of the Niger Delta region.”

The Executive Secretary based his recommendations on the failure of the Niger Delta Regional Master Plan which was launched in 2007 and failed as a result of insufficient funding, frequent changes in leadership, delays in budget approvals, and other issues.

He further advised the commission to stick to its core mandate and avoid being pressured by interest groups to dabble into projects outside its responsibility, emphasizing that the assessment of proposals should be strictly based on their sustainability, otherwise, it would be money down the drain.

The NCDMB boss further suggested that development and infrastructure projects should no longer be considered as gifts but as commercial ventures that need to be managed for profitability.

The NDDC Managing Director, Samuel Ogbuku, at the event, revealed that the commission has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) worth over $15 billion with Atlanta Global Resources Inc an international infrastructure project financing firm.

Ogbuku said the firm will be in charge of the construction of a mega rail line that would connect the nine states that makeup NDDC and ease the infrastructure deficit in the region.

He noted that “The commission could no longer shoulder the enormous responsibility of developing the Niger Delta region alone, hence the recourse to Public Private Partnership (PPP) model to provide alternative funding sources for critical developmental projects.”