Effiong Okon appointed NDDC interim administrator

Akwa Ibom state born Mr Effiong Okon Akwa has been appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari an interim administrator to oversee the affairs of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). A statement issued and signed by Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity,   Femi Adesina announced the appointment. Effiong Okon Akwa until the appointment was the Commission’s Acting Executive Director, Finance and Administration. 

He is expected to assume leadership of the NDDC until the completion of the forensic audit ordered by the President. The statement said: “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 plethora of litigation and a restraining order issued recently against the Interim Management Committee of the NDDC by a Federal High Court in Abuja.”

President Buhari had ordered a forensic audit of the NDDC in October 2019 following persistent allegations of financial misappropriation within the development agency. In February, the President appointed Professor Kemebradikumo Pondei, as Acting Managing Director of the NDDC. However, Pondei has also faced allegations of misconduct.