The Federal government has employed the services of eight field forensic auditors to review the accounts of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
This development is coming 10 months Later after it was Formally approved by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, disclosed this while he briefed journalists after Wednesday’s Federal Executive Council meeting.
Mr Akpabio, said the FEC approved a memo for the appointment of the forensic auditors.
“The memo is basically the appointment of Field Forensic Auditors to undertake the forensic auditing of the Niger Delta Development Commission and the Field Forensic Auditors are going to be designated to go through the states of the Niger Delta region.
“Earlier we had the lead forensic auditor that was approved sometime in March and now we have about eight other forensic auditors who have been approved and they are going to be working in the field in the Niger Delta region,” Mr Akpabio said.
Mr Akpabio was asked why the audit was delayed even after been approved by the president, Answering, Mr Akpabio blamed the late passage of the NDDC budget.
“By the time I assumed office in august 2019, we discovered there was no budget for the NDDC for the year 2019 up to that September. So we submitted two budgets in November to the National Assembly. And it took quite a while until in April, the budget details were given out to the NDDC in April, to end 31st of May, less than six weeks. So there was a provision of N1.25 billion in the budget of 2019 for the forensic audit exercise.
“So, basically what delayed it what the absence of budget, not the absence of the will,” he said.
The leadership of NDDC has been accused of embezzling and mismanaging funds approved for the commission.
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