The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) will collaborate to reconcile the company's required financial payments to the commission, according to Mr Osagie Okunbor, managing director of SPDC.
This information can be found in a statement made by NDDC Spokesman Dr Abosede Ibitoye on Sunday in Port Harcourt.
Okunbor reportedly said this while hosting a delegation from the NDDC in his office, according to Ibitoye.
Despite the financial issues, Okunbor claimed that the oil company has made an effort to make its required financial payments to NDDC on time.
He said: “NDDC is an important interventionist agency, and we look forward to providing all the support we can toward the execution of your (NDDC) mandate.
“It is in SPDC’s interest that NDDC succeeds. This is because it will make our work easier when NDDC succeeds in achieving its mandate.
“On the issue of statutory contributions to NDDC, we are willing to reconcile the figures,” he stated.
The SPDC managing director said that both organisations had enjoyed a long-standing relationship through active collaboration running for several years.
“So, we have partnered with NDDC several times in the past and we look forward to a mutually-beneficial relationship with the current NDDC board.
“The 29-kilometre Ogbia-Nembe road project is one of such partnerships that readily comes to mind,” Okunbor stated.
Earlier, the Managing Director of NDDC, Dr Samuel Ogbuku, underlined the importance of SPDC reconciling its statutory contributions to the commission.
He said that upon his assumption of office recently, the NDDC board found out that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had been receiving SPDC’s contributions on behalf of the commission.
“Recently, EFCC wrote to us, stating details of how much they have received so far on our behalf.
“But we need to reconcile those collections because we don’t have records of the contributions.
“We are desirous of maintaining our cordial relationship with SPDC, and looking forward to more fruitful partnerships in future,” he said.
Ogbuku said that there had been mistrust between NDDC and International Oil Companies (IOCs) over time, which gave the IOCs the impression that their contributions were not well utilised.
The NDDC boss assured of the commission's readiness to work with stakeholders, including members of the Oil Producers Trade Section, in its budget processes.
According to him, NDDC management is also focused on improving its public-private partnership (PPP) with stakeholders to facilitate sustainable development in the Niger Delta region.
“We have come in with new vigour, and we are thinking out of the box to change the narrative in the Niger Delta region.
‘To this end, we have set up a PPP committee to help us the source for other areas of funding for NDDC.
“Our intervention does not end with building roads and bridges but also, to empower young entrepreneurs, with a focus on exposing them to the world,” he said. (NAN)