Emmanuel Masha 
The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has stressed its readiness to engage development partners and donor agencies in the development of the Niger Delta region.
The managing director of NDDC, Samuel Ogbuku, who made the pledge during the
signing of a corporate governance advisory services agreement with Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler (KPMG), a tax audit firm, added that his administration would rebuild the people’s confidence in that NDDC.
Ogbuku said that partnering with KPMG will restore the image of the commission, add creditability and credence to their activities and usher in more development in the Niger Delta region.
He noted that the move to build good governance in the NDDC was also driven by the belief of the President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu in transparency and good governance.
“For me, it’s a groundbreaking moment just as I consider it the rebirth of NDDC. The NDDC has gone through different stages of turmoil and NDDC has also, over the years been called all sorts of names, making it look as if NDDC had not been a serious organisation. We took that up as a challenge.
“NDDC is not a complete failure as it has been seen, but for us to do things differently, we will ensure to do things that will be equal to international and best practice. Hence, we started looking at the option of engaging KPMG to come and provide advisory for governance services.
“We believe that committing to this agreement and partnership with KPMG will provide advisory services for governance and launch NDDC into the international level of acceptance.
“We are ready to be regulated internally and that means our processes are going to comply with international best practices according to KPMG standards.
“We want to create standards and strengthen the institution so that whatever we leave behind, it will be difficult for anybody to upturn it. NDDC should be known for its standards, and should not be seen as a launching bag for political activities anymore as it is being perceived.
“These internal regulations will be followed strictly because compliance is also part of the agreement we have signed with them.
“It has not been there but, we thought we just have to start it in order to build that confidence and in compliance with the vision of the new administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu that believes in transparency and good governance.
“So, the event of today is to tell the world that NDDC has been reborn and for them to change whatever impression they have about NDDC.
“After this, we will launch ourselves into visiting other smaller international organisations to solicit technical support as part of rebuilding the image of the NDDC,” he said.
Speaking, the leader of the KPMG team, Tolu Odukaye thanked the management of the NDDC for trusting them for the task of providing corporate governance advisory services to the commission.
He said the process will allow them to contribute to the development of the Niger Delta region and Nigeria as well.
