The Federal Executive Council has approved N722.3 million for eight field forensic auditors to audit the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
The field auditors will undertake a complete forensic exercise of the NDDC activities in their respective States of assignments and ascertain total funds and resources paid to contractors for all projects.
They would also compare the total amount of resources expended with the value of what was delivered to the Commission and establish if such value is commensurate with the resources expended.
The Minister of Niger Delta, Senator Godwill Akpabio, disclosed this on Wednesday after the virtual FEC meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The eight field Forensic auditors will undertake the forensic audit of NDDC from 2001 to 2019 with Ernst & Young in charge of the NDDC headquarters.
The payment for the forensic auditors will come directly from the Federal Government of Nigeria to jumpstart the forensic audit process in the nine states of the Niger Delta.
It would be recalled that President Buhari had ordered a forensic audit of the operations of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) from 2001 to 2019.
The President gave the directive when he received governors of the states in the Niger Delta region at the Presidential villa in Abuja in October last year.
The president said the directive had become imperative in view of the persistent criticisms of the operations of the commission.
He said what was on ground in the Niger Delta did not justify the huge resources that have been made available to the commission.
Many Stakeholders of the Niger Delta region have expressed support for the forensic audit as ordered by President Buhari.
According to Senator Akpabio the measures that would be put in place would ensure the prevention of fraud and mismanagement of the Commission in the future and establish proper regulatory and operational guidelines for the Commission .