Governor Wike alleges that N10 Billion illegally withdrawn from NDDC coffers to fight him during 2019 elections

BY ERIC OLUSESAN

Governor Nyesom Wike says the sum of N10 billion was deployed by the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, in 2019 to fight against him during the governorship elections.

It is not clear how the Rivers State Governor came upon those staggering figures, but he told Channels Television Tuesday, that it was time to involve technocrats in the administration of the Commission.

Governor Wike agreed with President Muhammadu Buhari that it was obvious that politicians appointed to choice positions in the NDDC have failed to develop the Niger Delta region.

Wike claimed that Governors of the South South who were elected on the platform of the PDP are never consulted even though the law establishing the Commission recognizes them as part of the management of the agency.

He acknowledged that President Muhammadu Buhari has made efforts recently to correct the defect. But he said that there is a mentality in the minds of members of the political class that the NDDC is a cash cow.
It would be recalled that Governor Wike about a week ago secured a state High Court judgement that NDDC is barred from executing any project in the state without the consent of the state government.

The judgement was passed by Justice Adolphus Enebeli of the state High Court in case filed by the State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice against NDDC and it’s management.