Tag: life support

Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio has said the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) is now placed on a life support system. He was referring to the huge indebtedness of oil exploration companies to the intervention agency. According to him, with $5.6 billion and N649 billion debts in the hands of oil firms, the Commission was struggling to pay salaries. Akpabio spoke while chatting with reporters shortly after hosting Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN), Tijani Muhammad-Bande in his Abuja office. He, however, disclosed that the Federal Government had already set up a committee headed by the minister of Finance to recover those monies. Akpabio said: “As I speak now, the federal government has set up a committee headed by the minister of Finance to recover monies that were owed to the NDDC, and at the last count, about $5.6 billion and about N649 billion are monies owed to the NDDC by oil companies. ”So the NDDC itself is on life support because what they get on a monthly basis is just enough to pay their salaries and maintain their offices but people are not aware.” He told his guest of a plan by President Muhammadu Buhari to inaugurate a 1,050-bed hostel in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State by December 30. The minister also hint that the President would is also inaugurate another 132kv substation in Ondo State. The substation will supply power to communities that have been in darkness for 14 years in five local government areas. He said: “On the 30th of this month, the President will commission one out of numerous hostels that we are building through the NDDC and donated to the Nigerian students, one of them is a 1,050 bed hostel out of which 50 units will be for students living with disabilities. “That has been completed with 24,000 gallons of water per day, two standby 1,200kva generating sets, and 5000 vehicular space for parking and amazing for both boys and girls that has been completed. “So, on 30th of this month we will be at the University of Uyo for the commissioning of the project by Mr. President. “Immediately after that, by January, we should be going to Ondo to commission a 132kva substation  that will supply power to about five local government areas in the state, and unfortunately, that five local government areas have been in darkness for 14 years.” The minister further stated that many projects have been completed in the Niger Delta region while many are still on-going, such as the East West Road that is expected to be completed by the end of next year. Akpabio said: “We have completed many projects also, the East-West road is on-going with about 41 bridges and we have moved it from 76 per cent complete that we met on ground to over 82 per cent as I speak now, and I believe that sections 1-4 which is a distance of 338km will be commissioned by Mr. President by the end of next year. ”So, a lot of changes are taking place in the region outside human capital development, we are also involved in skills acquisition, we have built skills acquisition centres in all the nine states of the Niger Delta, and many of them have been completed.” He sought collaboration with the UN on the areas of youth development, environment sustainability and many others. Muhmmad-Bande commended the minister for the development and peace experienced in the Niger Delta.