The Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Dr Samuel Ogbuku, has assured State Offices of the Commission of necessary synergy in the area of project execution.
Ogbuku, who stated this during his maiden visit to the Yenagoa Office of the Commission over the weekend declared that the era of awarding and executing projects at the Head Office in Port Harcourt without the input of its state offices is gone.
According to him, the working relationship with the state offices would eliminate issues of fake and uncompleted projects.
“The state offices are the foundation of the commission because the projects are not in the state headquarters. The projects are in various states and the state offices manage those projects. So, if there is a disconnect between the head office and the state offices, then definitely, we are going to have a lot of problems.
“We’re definitely going to work with the state offices to curb all these issues of fake projects, uncompleted projects, duplication of projects so that in our budgeting process, we will carry every stakeholder along so that state directors should also advise us on projects that we ought to do in those states,” he said.
Speaking, the Director, Bayelsa State Office, Theophilus Allagoa, drew the attention of the MD to the challenges of the Yenagoa office, especially the working environment which has been worsened by the 2022 flooding.
In his response to the plight of staff of the Commission in Bayelsa, he promised to improve the output of NDDC Staff in Bayelsa State by addressing the welfare of staff and providing a befitting working environment.
Meanwhile, Ogbuku has described the retired Chief Judge of Bayelsa State, Justice Kate Abiri as an asset to the Niger Delta region.
In an interview shortly after attending the valedictory session in Abiri’s honour at the State High Court complex, Yenagoa, he said she has been able to transform the Bayelsa State judiciary.
“She is an asset to the Niger Delta. She has left a legacy. She was the one that actually transformed the Bayelsa State Judiciary. You can see the edifice built in her tenure and which everybody has complimented. She has done very well for Bayelsa State and the people of the Niger Delta,” he said.