Ijaw congress condemns secrecy around NDDC forensic audit report

According to the INC, this must include the publication of the names of those allegedly culpable in the mismanagement of the funds of the NDDC and abandonment of projects over the years.

The President of INC, Benjamin Okaba, in a statement in Yenagoa on Friday, frowned on the secrecy with which the outcome of the forensic audit was being handled, stressing that the people of the region deserved to know every detail relating to the report of the forensic audit.

He insisted that there should be no cover-up or sacred cows in the implementation of the outcome of the forensic audit, noting that all the indicted persons, irrespective of party or political affiliations, should be brought to justice without fear or favour.

He said, “After 16 months of postponement and rigmarole, the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Chief Godswill Akpabio, has finally submitted the long-overdue report of the forensic audit on the NDDC two weeks ago through the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami to President Muhammadu Buhari.

“The complexities that trailed the said audit process in addition to the diversionary comments of Malami have left us more worried and suspicious of the true intentions of the exercise.

“Why has President Muhammadu Buhari till date not said anything about the report and the inauguration of the substantive board six years into the life of his administration, despite public concerns on the implications of managing the NDDC as a private estate for this long?

“It is a huge integrity test and task on Mr President to immediately submit the forensic report undiluted to the corridors of public domain with the guarantee of free and easy access by anyone that cares in line with the Freedom of Information Act.”