Lauretta Onochie, Chairman, Governing Board, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), says she’ll improve the credibility and quality of its projects.

Ms Onochie spoke at a ceremony organise to celebrate her recent appointmenton Tuesday in Abuja.

She declared: “The days of portfolio contractors and splitting contracts have ended,” adding that the commission under her watch was going to get the best contractors to do the best projects for the people of Niger Delta.

Ms Onochie, who decried that NDDC had in the past became a cash cow for the elites in the Niger Delta Region and beyond, vowed, ”it is not going to be the same anymore.

She said: “Although it is going to be a difficult task, President Muhammadu Buhari has made my appointment into NDDC easier.

“This is because he had ordered a forensic audit, and from the result, Nigerians were angered when they saw the quantum of evidence that was presented during the audit.

“We are not going to be looking at the forensic audit as a board, but we are going to do things differently.

“I’m very lucky to be a disciple of President Muhammadu Buhari, who everybody knows that he is an incorruptible leader, as he is a man that abhors corruption.” 

Ms Onochie said that Mr Buhari’s handling of the country since 2015 had shown everyone how serious he was about tackling corruption.

She said: “We are going to stand with our people, as our youth are going to benefit massively, and the NDDC staffers that have been long suffering in the region are going to have a new leaf of life.

“They are going to be retrained, rehire some of them as technical aides rather than looking elsewhere. We are just going to do things totally different.” 

She said that NDDC would train the youth and equip them with the requisite skills, so that they are able to get their own businesses started, and become employers of labour.

(NAN)