For NDDC roles, NASS screens Lauretta Onochie and others

Thursday, the Senate and House of Representatives Niger Delta Committees interviewed Lauretta Onochie for the position of Board Chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

The joint committees looked at Onochie and 13 other candidates for positions on the NDDC board. Onochie is the special assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari for social media.

According to Section 2(2)(a) of the Niger Delta Development Commission (Establishment) Act, Buhari has written to the Senate asking the Upper Chamber to affirm the nomination of the chairman and members of the NDDC board.

But it looked like some committee members didn’t like Onochie’s nomination, especially because she isn’t from an oil-producing community in her home state of Delta State and isn’t allowed to be the commission’s chair because of this.

Senator Seriake Dickson, a committee member, brought this up during the screening process, but some committee members objected, saying the NDDC Act doesn’t express it specifically.

Senator Orji Kalu of Abia State brought up former NDDC Chairman Onyema Ugochukwu to his fellow committee members.

Buhari has submitted a list of candidates for the NDDC board for confirmation twice.

In 2021, he sent the Senate the first list of candidates for the board. The Senate then looked over the candidates and gave their approval.

But Senate President Ahmad Lawan says that one of the reasons Buhari sent a new list of candidates for confirmation was because there was a problem with the first list.

Board nominees for NDDC

Some of the fresh candidates for the NDDC board are listed below:

1. Laureta Ifeanyi Onochie is the chairman (Delta, South-South).

2. Dimgba Erugba, a state legislator (Abia, South-East)

3. Ene Wilcox, M.D. (Akwa Ibom, State Representative, South-South)

4. Pius Odudu Dr. (Edo, South-South)

Gbenga Odegba, Hon (Ondo, South-West)

Mr. Anthony Ekene, engineer (Imo, South-East)

Inyekachi Dimgba 7 (Rivers, South-South)

8. Abdulkabir Mohammed Kabir Abubakar (Zonal Representative, Nasarawa)

9. The SAN Tallen Mamma Professor (North-East Representative, Adamawa)

10. Sani Sodique (North-West, Zonal Representative)

Principal Doctor Samuel Ibukun (MD)

12. Army Colonel Charles Ehigie Airhiavbere (Executive of Finance)

Charles Ogunmola, 13 (Executive Director, Project, South-West)