Former President Goodluck Jonathan has expressed concern over the Niger Delta Development Commission’s (NDDC) inability to complete key projects across the oil-rich region, attributing the problem to frequent leadership changes within the agency.
Jonathan made the remarks on Saturday during the grand finale of the NDDC’s 25th anniversary celebration in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. He warned that unless the trend of unstable leadership is addressed, the commission would continue to struggle with uncompleted and poorly executed development projects.
“But something critical that I need to mention… the frequent changes of the leadership of the NDDC has been a problem for the development,” Jonathan said, echoing the earlier observation made by Onyema Ugochukwu, the commission’s pioneer chairman.
He pointed out that the agency has had 11 chief executive officers in 25 years, giving each CEO an average tenure of just two years and three months, a timeline he believes is insufficient for long-term planning or successful project delivery.
“How can you plan? How can you finish projects that are significant to the region?” the former president questioned.
Citing a keynote address by Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Jonathan noted that many of the NDDC’s abandoned projects were not necessarily the result of negligence, but of administrative instability. He argued that without the time needed to plan and execute projects based on regional needs, the commission often defaults to contractor-driven projects rather than strategic development.
The NDDC, established in 2000 to fast-track infrastructure and economic growth in the Niger Delta, has faced repeated criticism for project delays, mismanagement, and a lack of continuity under successive leaderships.
