Opinion: Budget: The Soothing Embrace of the Senate and NDDC Interim Management, By Ifeatu Agbu
That patriotic act by the lawmakers strengthened the bond of friendship that came in handy for Nunieh and her team. This was evident from the convivial atmosphere that suffused the committee room and more or less smoothened out the rough edges, as the senators asked questions on the NDDC budget.
The NDDC boss, known in the Niger Delta region as the “Esther of Ogoni land,” was spared what could have been an unpleasant meeting with the lawmakers. A truce was necessary to water the grounds because the Senate had on November 26, 2019, indicated that only those it screened and subsequently confirmed as board members of the NDDC would be allowed to defend the budget of the Commission.
Up until the birth of the IMC, which is a child of necessity, the NDDC had enjoyed a cordial relationship with members of the National Assembly. Nevertheless, members of the Senate Committee were firm, probing and yet polite. The NDDC management, on the other hand, was forthright with answers. He said the Committee was closely monitoring the budget spending of the Commission, saying that what happened at the NDDC before now was very sad.
The NDDC boss assured the Committee that the documents would be made available latest by next week, stating that the Commission was being guided by the Next Level agenda of the Buhari administration in terms of transparency and accountability in its projects execution. Nunieh admitted that there were many misplaced projects being handled by the Commission, observing: “I know that there are a lot of misplaced projects in this budget and that’s what we are trying to correct in this new position.
Nunieh told the Senate that the Interim Management had stopped medical assistance, which she explained was being abused, as up to 5,000 medical requests were already waiting to be attended to when they assumed office. What was intriguing, she said, was that the requests were not from poor people in the Niger Delta region.
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