NDDC Operated Rented Office For 20 Years -Pondei

The Acting Manager, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Prof. Keme Pondei, has regretted the delay in the completion of the NDDC permanent headquarters, saying the commission operated a rented apartment for over 20 years.
Pondei, who spoke while inaugurating a committee for the completion and commissioning of its 13-floor new permanent headquarters at the Eastern By-Pass, Port Harcourt, yesterday described the permanent office project as a never-ending undertaking.
The NDDC Director, Corporate Affairs, Charles Odili quoted Pondei as saying: “The Headquarters Project, which was commenced in the Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission, OMPADEC times, has in itself been a never-ending undertaking of the commission all this while, constituting a permanent drain on its resources with continuous flow of funds and resources to the project over these years.
“Several revisions, redesigns and amendments later, it was still without a completion schedule or date at the inception of the Interim Management Committee, IMC. Today we are happy that it is now a project under final completion phases.”
Pondei said that members of the committee were selected to see to the end of the process and plan for a befitting commissioning of the edifice.
“We are performing this inauguration ceremony from within the structure itself is a testimony to the resilience of the Commission under the IMC to bring this project to an end and to deliver a befitting home to the permanent ownership and use of the NDDC”, he said.
He said following the importance of the project, it was necessary to ensure that there were no further bottlenecks or delays arising from any bureaucracy.