The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has requested the Federal Government to exempt the interventionist agency from the Treasury Single Account (TSA).
Chief Tony Okocha, the Rivers State Representative on the NDDC Management Board, made this plea while addressing reporters after a meeting with contractors overseeing projects in the state at the Port Harcourt office on Tuesday.
Okocha’s appeal arises from his disclosure that he inherited over 952 abandoned NDDC projects in Rivers State. He emphasized that the commission needs the flexibility to disburse funds to contractors in bulk, attributing the high number of abandoned projects to the current system.
“The purpose of our meeting was to gather feedback from our contractors regarding their progress and share our vision and mission with them. We have engaged with them and received their responses. We understand the challenges they face, including non-payment for completed work and political instability,” Okocha stated.
“We have promised to address these issues, and this leads us to our request to the Federal Government to exempt NDDC from the Treasury Single Account. As an interventionist agency covering nine states in the Niger Delta, we operate under severe weather constraints. With limited dry seasons for work, we need to utilize our funds efficiently,” he continued.
Okocha proposed that by being exempt from the TSA, NDDC could negotiate for bulk funding and streamline procurement processes to ensure timely project execution. Otherwise, he warned of continued project variations and delays.