Effiong Akwa and the NDDC, By Reuben Abati 9 min read Within three weeks of assuming office, Effiong Akwa has engaged with the National Assembly to get approval, finally, for NDDC Budget 2020, which will run till June. But he must remain focused and refuse to be dragged into the politics of the job. His assignment is simple: facilitate the completion of the forensic audit. By now, he should know that all eyes are on him. The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) was in the news for all the wrong reasons in 2020. The agency that was established 20 years ago to bring development to the nine oil-bearing States of the Niger Delta became an embarrassment to the Nigerian government. In 2019, President Buhari had ordered a forensic audit of the agency’s accounts, a move that was hailed as long overdue by many Nigerians. This was also said to be consistent with the administration’s anti-corruption campaign. What should have been a smooth administrative process however became a battle for the soul of the agency itself. The conflict was in the shape of controversies over the appointment of a Board for the NDDC. A Board was constituted only to be suspended and replaced with an Interim Management Committee. While the president opted for the Interim Management Committee and urged the team of auditors looking into the books of the NDDC to do a thorough job, the National Assembly also launched an inquiry into the affairs of the NDDC. It was like opening a can of worms.