An elder statesman, and social critic, Anabs Sara-Igbe, has described the audit of the interventionist agency, the Niger Delta Development Commission, as good omen.
Anabs Sara-Igbe, speaking in an interview, said that the audit would question the activities of those at the agency and would make them to be careful in their operations.
He said that the audit would mean that those at the agency would be accountable for their actions.
The elder statesman, and social critic said: “As far as I’m concerned, that is in the right direction. Since the audit is to report directly to the federal government I think it is a very good omen that we are going somewhere”.
He said that the report of the audit should reveal those guilty of any financial mismanagement so that the interventionist agency and the people of the region would move forward.
The elder statesman and social critic expressed the hope that the audit would also check the mismanagement at the agency.
He said that the report of the audit would lead the federal government to take decisions on those at the helms of affairs saying that there should be “no sacred cow”, when the report would be out.
He however insisted that the Auditor-General should be in charge of the audit.
He said that the people of the region should know what the problem is in the interventionist agency.
He also said that the audit team should be transparent in its work.
Sara-Igbe said: “If there’s an audit committee and we have a transparent audit firm and the people are called to question I think that will make people to be scared. If you know that you will be accountable for whatever you do, you will be scared”.
The federal government has released over N700 million for the audit of the Niger Delta Development Commission. This was revealed by the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, after a virtual Federal Executive Council meeting on Wednesday.
The elder statesman and social critic said that the audit was initiated to know what has been happening in the interventionist agency adding that the people of the region should know the culprits guilty of financial mismanagement.
He said: “Based on the report of the audit, we can move forward”.
He stated that the audit team would also look into the abandoned projects in the region.
Giving overall judgement, Sara-Igbe said that the Niger Delta Development Commission has failed the people of the region, saying that after the audit, the people of the region should be able to say whether or not they would accept the outcome.
