The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, has flagged off the physical verification phase of the forensic audit of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
Senator Akpabio, who inaugurated the commencement of the field visits of project sites during the Strategic Capacity Building workshop of the Commission at Ibom Icon Hotels and Golf Resort in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, said that the 16 field auditors would now begin to identify and verify the projects across the Niger Delta region.
The minister, who said budgetary delays affected the forensic exercise, wondered why some people would be peddling rumours that the forensic audit had derailed, and that was being used as a ploy to continue with the NDDC Interim Administration.
The NDDC Interim Administrator, Effiong Akwa, emphasised that the forensic audit was a serious and deliberate exercise which made it necessary for the physical inspection of project sites in the nine states of the Niger Delta region.
He said that wherever the over 12,000 projects were located, the committee had been mandated to visit them, noting that they had the capacity to move around and ensure that the verification was done properly.
