The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream), Hon. Alhassan Ado Doguwa, has raised a critical alarm regarding the ongoing systemic challenges within the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). In a forceful statement issued via Hon Doguwa TV, the lawmaker highlighted deep-seated concerns over the Commission’s alleged entanglement in institutional corruption and the broader crises surrounding crude oil theft in the region.
Hon. Doguwa, a ranking member of the House representing the Doguwa/Tudun Wada Federal Constituency of Kano State, emphasized that the NDDC, an interventionist agency created to drive rapid development and stability in the oil-producing Niger Delta, is falling significantly short of its foundational mandate. Instead of fostering progress, structural vulnerabilities and oversight lapses have allowed economic sabotage, specifically oil theft, to fester under its watch.
“We cannot continue to look the other way while strategic national institutions designed to uplift our communities become entangled in the very vices crippling our economy,” Hon. Doguwa stated during his address. He underscored that crude oil theft remains one of the greatest threats to Nigeria’s fiscal stability and national security, depriving the country of vital revenue needed for developmental infrastructure.
As part of his legislative oversight and commitment to national resource protection, Hon. Doguwa called for:
An immediate, comprehensive review of the administrative and financial activities of the NDDC to root out corrupt elements.
Stricter enforcement of transparency protocols within interventionist agencies operating in the Niger Delta.
Enhanced synergy between the National Assembly, security agencies, and relevant stakeholders to aggressively combat the cartel-like networks driving crude oil theft.
Hon. Doguwa reaffirmed the House of Representatives’ unwavering dedication to sanitizing the petroleum and regional development sectors. He warned that any individual or institution found complicit in sabotaging the nation’s economic mainstay would face the full wrath of the law.
