By George Mgbeleke<\/p>\n
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has commended the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for its recovery efforts that have resulted in the retrieval of more than N115 billion and $84 million in outstanding statutory levies owed the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) by oil companies.<\/p>\n
HURIWA described the recovery as a significant development in the ongoing struggle to ensure that public revenues meant for the development of the Niger Delta are not lost through corporate non-compliance, administrative negligence or deliberate evasion of statutory obligations.<\/p>\n
The rights group said the disclosure by the EFCC before the Senate Public Accounts Committee represents an important step towards strengthening accountability in the management of revenues accruing to the NDDC and the broader Nigerian extractive sector.<\/p>\n
The association particularly commended the Senate Public Accounts Committee, chaired by Senator Ibrahim Dankwambo, for sustaining its investigation into the 2021\u20132023 Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) Oil and Gas Industry Audit Reports and for demanding explanations from companies whose financial obligations remain unresolved.<\/p>\n
HURIWA said the revelation that the EFCC investigated 43 oil companies and established outstanding liabilities against 24 companies demonstrates the importance of translating audit findings into concrete enforcement and recovery actions.<\/p>\n
According to the disclosure before the Senate, 24 companies operating in the Niger Delta were initially found to have outstanding liabilities of N76.88 billion and $81.08 million, while 19 others were cleared following investigation.<\/p>\n
The EFCC further disclosed that some companies subsequently paid N6.71 billion and $16.99 million directly to the NDDC, while the commission released N73.37 billion and $67.07 million of recovered funds to the development commission.<\/p>\n
HURIWA said these figures should not merely be celebrated as financial recoveries but must trigger a deeper examination of why such enormous statutory obligations were allowed to remain outstanding in the first place.<\/p>\n
NDDC MONEY MUST FOLLOW THE PEOPLE<\/p>\n
HURIWA said every naira and dollar recovered for the NDDC carries a direct responsibility to the people of the Niger Delta.<\/p>\n
The organisation stressed that the NDDC was established to address the developmental challenges of an oil-producing region that has endured decades of environmental degradation, inadequate infrastructure, unemployment, poverty and social dislocation arising from oil and gas exploration.<\/p>\n
The association therefore warned that recovered funds must not disappear into another cycle of inflated contracts, abandoned projects, politically motivated procurement and questionable expenditure.<\/p>\n
\u201cRecovering NDDC money from oil companies is only half of the job. The bigger responsibility is ensuring that the recovered funds are deployed transparently for the benefit of the people for whom the NDDC was established.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Niger Delta people have heard promises for decades. They have seen budgets, contracts and project announcements. What they are demanding now are functioning roads, hospitals, schools, water projects, employment opportunities and sustainable development.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery naira recovered by the EFCC must therefore be treated as money belonging to the people, not as a fresh opportunity for political contractors and bureaucrats to enrich themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
ARREST AND PROSECUTE FAILED NDDC CONTRACTORS<\/p>\n
HURIWA consequently challenged the EFCC to extend its enforcement activities beyond oil companies that failed to remit statutory levies and turn its investigative spotlight on failed, fraudulent and abandoned NDDC projects and contractors.<\/p>\n
The association called on the anti-graft agency to investigate contractors who collected substantial mobilisation payments for NDDC projects but failed to execute them, abandoned them after receiving public funds or delivered projects that did not correspond with the amounts paid.<\/p>\n
HURIWA said the Niger Delta is littered with projects that have existed for years on government documents and budget papers without corresponding evidence of completion on the ground.<\/p>\n
The organisation demanded that contractors and officials found culpable should be arrested, investigated and prosecuted, regardless of their political connections or status.<\/p>\n
\u201cEFCC should not stop at recovering money from oil companies. The agency must follow the money into the NDDC project chain.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho collected billions for roads that were never completed? Who was paid for schools that exist only on paper? Who received mobilisation for water projects that never delivered water to the communities? Who certified abandoned projects as completed?<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are questions that Nigerians in the Niger Delta have been asking for years.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere evidence establishes criminal wrongdoing, the appropriate response should not be another committee or another report. It should be arrest, prosecution and recovery of the proceeds of crime.\u201d<\/p>\n
HURIWA said the prosecution of failed contractors would send a powerful message that public contracts are not private wealth-creation schemes.<\/p>\n
The association also called for closer scrutiny of procurement processes, contract variations, mobilisation payments, completion certificates and payments made for projects subsequently abandoned.<\/p>\n
SENATE PROBE MUST NOT END WITH HEARINGS<\/p>\n
HURIWA commended the Senate Public Accounts Committee for insisting that chief executives of oil companies personally appear before it where necessary to respond to queries arising from the NEITI audit reports.<\/p>\n
The group said the National Assembly’s oversight responsibility would have little impact if investigations ended with public hearings, media headlines and voluminous reports without enforcement and recovery.<\/p>\n
HURIWA therefore urged the committee to pursue every unresolved financial query to its logical conclusion and recommend appropriate sanctions where violations are established.<\/p>\n
The association equally urged the Senate to ensure that government agencies responsible for collecting statutory revenues develop stronger systems for tracking remittances and identifying defaulters before debts accumulate into billions of naira and millions of dollars.<\/p>\n
HURIWA ENDORSES EFCC BOSS’ MESSAGE TO NIGERIAN YOUTHS<\/p>\n
HURIWA also endorsed the admonition by the EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, to Nigerian youths against internet fraud, get-rich-quick schemes, peer pressure and the destructive pursuit of wealth without legitimate effort.<\/p>\n
The association said the message could not have come at a more appropriate time, given the growing social pressure on young Nigerians to acquire expensive cars, live extravagant lifestyles and display sudden wealth regardless of the source of such wealth.<\/p>\n
HURIWA said Olukoyede’s warning that fraudulent wealth can ultimately result in arrest, prosecution, imprisonment and forfeiture of assets should be taken seriously by Nigerian youths.<\/p>\n
The rights group particularly endorsed the EFCC chairman’s argument that success without process rarely lasts, stressing that Nigeria’s future depends on a generation of young people prepared to build wealth through knowledge, innovation, discipline, enterprise and legitimate work.<\/p>\n
The association said Nigerian youths should not be deceived by social media displays of ostentatious lifestyles into believing that overnight wealth is the definition of success.<\/p>\n
\u201cOlukoyede’s admonition is a timely intervention in a society where material success is sometimes celebrated without questions about its source.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe endorse his call on Nigerian youths to reject internet fraud and deploy technology for innovation, entrepreneurship, skills acquisition and legitimate wealth creation.<\/p>\n
\u201cA society that teaches its young people that wealth is valuable regardless of how it is acquired is preparing the ground for its own destruction.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur young people must understand that the fastest route to a flashy lifestyle may also be the fastest route to prison, asset forfeiture and a ruined future.\u201d<\/p>\n
BUILDING A BETTER FUTURE FOR NIGERIA<\/p>\n
HURIWA said the EFCC’s recovery of NDDC funds and its simultaneous campaign against cybercrime among youths represent two sides of the same national struggle: protecting public resources today while protecting the future generation from destructive choices tomorrow.<\/p>\n
The association said Nigeria cannot build a prosperous society while public funds are stolen on one hand and young people are encouraged by social pressure to embrace criminality on the other.<\/p>\n
According to HURIWA, the country requires a culture in which public officials protect public resources, corporations honour their statutory obligations, contractors execute projects for which they are paid and young people pursue legitimate opportunities to create wealth.<\/p>\n
The organisation therefore called for stronger collaboration among the EFCC, NDDC, NEITI, National Assembly and other relevant institutions to ensure that recovered funds are properly accounted for and deployed to measurable development projects.<\/p>\n
HURIWA also urged the NDDC to publish details of recovered funds received from the EFCC and provide Nigerians with clear information on how such resources are subsequently utilised.<\/p>\n
NO SACRED COWS IN THE WAR AGAINST CORRUPTION<\/p>\n
The rights group said the recovery of billions of naira and millions of dollars from oil companies should encourage the EFCC to intensify its work rather than become an isolated success story.<\/p>\n
HURIWA called for a comprehensive investigation into all major revenue leakages affecting the NDDC and demanded that no individual, company, contractor or public official found culpable should be shielded.<\/p>\n
\u201cCorruption has no political party, ethnic group or geographical address. The law must follow the evidence.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe therefore urge the EFCC to remain focused, professional and fearless. Recover the money. Identify those responsible. Arrest where the evidence supports arrest. Prosecute where the evidence supports prosecution. Recover stolen assets and ensure that public resources return to the people.\u201d<\/p>\n
HURIWA said the Niger Delta deserves more than another cycle of investigations and promises.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe people of the Niger Delta have paid an enormous price for Nigeria’s oil wealth. They deserve to see the benefits of the resources extracted from their communities.<\/p>\n
\u201cRecovered NDDC funds must become visible development. Failed contractors must face justice. Oil companies must meet their statutory obligations. Public officials entrusted with NDDC resources must be held accountable.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Nigerian youths must be encouraged to understand that their future is far more valuable than the temporary excitement of fraudulent wealth.\u201d<\/p>\n
HURIWA therefore commended the EFCC for the recoveries, endorsed the EFCC Chairman’s warning to youths against cybercrime and urged all relevant agencies to sustain the momentum until every recoverable public fund is recovered and every person found culpable is made to face the law.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By George Mgbeleke The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has commended the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for its recovery efforts that have resulted in the retrieval of more than N115 billion and $84 million in outstanding statutory levies owed the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) by oil companies. HURIWA described the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11875,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16733"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16733\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16734,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16733\/revisions\/16734"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}