Different projects in the Niger Delta region have continued to drag on as the Bola Tinubu administration fails to publish the forensic audit report of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
This development comes amid allegations of funds mismanagement that have trailed the NDDC under its Managing Director, Sam Ogbuku.
The refusal of the Tinubu-led administration to publish audit reports to show the financial expenditures of the NDDC comes despite a sum of N652.8 million spent on contracts for the forensic audit of the commission between February 17, 2023, and February 22, 2023.
This is according to checks at the public payments portal, Govspend, by SaharaReporters.
SaharaReporters learnt that some of the yet-to-be-completed projects include the “Kaa-Ataba Bridge in Rivers State, which is a 1.2 km bridge and road project connecting Andoni and Kana local government areas and serving as an alternative route to Bonny Island.”
Another yet-to-be-completed project is the Nasak Junction AON Road and Bridge in Akwa Ibom State, a 30 km road and bridge linking communities to Abia State; the Okirika-Borikiri Bridge in Rivers State; and the Bonny Ring Road in Rivers State, which is a 27.14 km road project, including 13 bridges, expected to connect Bonny Town with surrounding communities.
SaharaReporters recently reported the lavish 50th birthday celebration of Sam Ogbuku, the current Chief Executive Officer of the NDDC, a development that has prompted concerns about the prudent management of funds under his leadership.
SaharaReporters also reported in November 2023 how the NDDC went ahead to distribute vehicles among the board members despite a presidential order to hold on to the commencement of official duties.
In August 2025, the Ijaw Publishers Forum called for a probe of the NDDC under Sam Ogbuku.
Some civil activists have also called for the urgent probe of the NDDC MD, Ogbuku, by foremost anti-graft commissions, the EFCC and the ICPC.
Ogbuku continues to face backlash over his opulent 50th birthday celebrations amid the rot, decadence and neglect in the Niger Delta where his commission is focused.
“What could have been a simple and understated celebration of a public servant’s 50th birthday has instead ballooned into a lavish, multi-city spectacle—reportedly extending beyond Nigeria’s borders—all allegedly bankrolled, at least in part, by the same taxpayers the NDDC was created to support,” one of the commentators said.
“According to multiple sources, over ₦5billion in public funds may have been expended on this grand event. If confirmed, such a figure would not only highlight gross financial mismanagement but also raise serious ethical concerns.
“Dr. Ogbuku’s conduct reveals a deeper dysfunction in Nigeria’s public sector—a tendency toward extravagance that continues to undermine efforts to combat poverty in regions like the Niger Delta, where oil wealth is often diverted for personal indulgence instead of being used to improve community welfare,” another activist wrote.
“To fully understand the issue, it’s important to revisit the original purpose of the NDDC. Created in 2000 under the Niger Delta Development Commission (Establishment, etc.) Act, the Commission was designed to address the environmental damage, economic neglect, and social instability affecting the oil-producing Niger Delta. Its primary objectives include promoting sustainable growth, developing infrastructure, and reducing poverty across the nine constituent states—Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Imo, Ondo, and Rivers.
“Dr. Ogbuku, whether placed in his role by political alignment or chance, was given the critical task of managing resources meant to improve the lives of millions living with polluted lands, failing infrastructure, and chronic unemployment.
“Yet, in a painful twist of irony, his 50th birthday celebration became a symbol of excess—one from which the people he was meant to serve were excluded, even as they unknowingly financed it through misused public funds,” he added.
