By Patrick Ochei
The Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Dr. Samuel Ogbuku has said that the Commission under his watch is anchored on transparency and compliance in both the administrative structure and procurement processes.
He made this statement on Monday 7th July, 2025, while giving an account of NDDC at 25 during a world press conference in Asaba, Delta State.
The MD maintained that at the inception of their assumption in office immediately after inauguration, the President had engaged them and tasked them to ensure that all abandoned projects are executed as well as making them to sign a performance bond.
The highly eloquent Samuel Ogbuku affirmed that the Management Team was standing on the mandate of Mr. President by ensuring that the procurement processes are cleaned up in line with the administrative structure being reorganized according to the Act setting up NDDC as an interventionist agency.
Based on this marching order, Ogbuku recounted the achievements of the NDDC in the past two years to include; the Okitipupa electricity project which has restored light to the whole of Ondo South that was bedevilled with power outage for 15 years.
Other interventions according to Ogbuku are in the areas of road construction, erosion control, Operation Light Up Niger Delta scheme through solar street lights, yearly commitment of forty thousand dollars to each of the 200 overseas students on NDDC scholarship, supporting SMEs through the Niger Delta Chamber of Commerce with #30b commitment and #5b already released, building of NDDC offices across the mandate States, regular engagement of stakeholders and more.
Ogbuku reaffirmed that NDDC was created to bridge the gap in development, and because the agitation was started by people in the rural settings of Niger Delta, the management that he oversees had however, decided to commit to responding adequately to the yearnings and aspirations of Niger Deltans in rural settlements in terms of development.
In a nutshell, Ogbuku appealed for peace and cooperation of stakeholders, stressing that project abandonments all over Niger Delta was as a result of high turnover of management – where new management comes in to start new projects and jetisson the ones on ground.
