NDDC gets Interim Administrator

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of an interim administrator to oversee the affairs of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

Femi Adesina, Presidential spokesman said on Saturday that Akwa who is the Commission’s Acting Executive Director, Finance and Administration is expected to hold forth until the completion of the forensic audit ordered by the President.

According to Adesina,” Mr Akwa’s appointment is expected to fill in the gap created by the legal restrictions.”

A reflection on the bizarre developments in the interventionist agency was the ordering by President Buhari for a forensic audit of the NDDC in October 2019 following persistent allegations of financial misappropriation within the development agency.

In February, the President appointed Professor Kemebradikumo Pondei, as Acting Managing Director of the NDDC. Pondei has also faced allegations of misconduct. He slumped in July during a House of Representatives committee hearing.

This December, a Federal High Court in Abuja granted an order to restrain Pondei and others from performing NDDC board functions.

The new interim NDDC boss is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.