Former President Goodluck Jonathan has decried the inability of the Niger Delta Development Commission to complete projects commissioned in different parts of the region to uplift the lives of the people.
Jonathan said that with frequent changes of leadership in the management of the NDDC, it would not be able to complete projects.
He spoke at the grand finale of the 25th anniversary celebration of the Niger Delta Development Commission in Port Harcourt, the state capital, on Saturday.
“But something critical that I need to mention; Onyema Ugochukwu, the pioneer chairman, noted it — the frequent changes of the leadership of the NDDC has been a problem for the development,” the former president said.
He added, “When we listened to the keynote address, Ngozi (Okonjo-Iweala) mentioned numerous projects that were abandoned.
“They were not abandoned because the managers of the NDDC wanted to do so, but the frequent changes made it that way. When you cannot plan, when there’s no time to plan, agencies that go to develop now resort to contractor-driven projects, not projects based on planning.
“From what the chairman said, over these 25 years, we have had 11 CEOs of the NDDC. That means that the CEO on average is two years, three months. So, two years, three months, how can you plan? How can you finish projects that are significant to the region?”