Buhari Sacks Pondei, Appoints New NDDC Administrator

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of Mr Effiong Okon Akwa as the Interim Administrator of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

This was made known in a statement on Saturday night by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina.

Following Akwa’s appointment, Professor Kemebradikumo Pondei the former administrator of the Interim Management Committee (IMC) has relieved of his position.

Before his appointment, Akwa was the Acting Executive Director, Finance and Administration, of the NDDC, under Pondei’s leadership.

The statement noted that the new administration would oversee the affairs of the Commission till the end of the ongoing forensic auditing of the interventionist agency.

“President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of an interim administrator to oversee the affairs of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC),” the statement reads.

“He is Mr. Effiong Okon Akwa, the Ag. Executive Director, Finance and Administration of the Commission, who is to assume headship till completion of the forensic audit.

“Mr. Akwa is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

“The development became necessary as a result of a plethora of litigation and a restraining order issued recently against the Interim Management Committee of the NDDC by a Federal High Court in Abuja.”

Naija News reports that the Pondei-led IMC had been faced with allegations of financial impropriety which led to a National Assembly probe and a short-lived faceoff between the federal lawmakers on one side and the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, and the IMC on the other.

Recall that Pondei had ‘’fainted’’ during an interrogation by the house panel probing the NDDC IMC which led to widespread reactions from Nigerians.