By Humphrey Steven, Abuja
A non-governmental organization, Safe and Better Nigeria (SBN), has accused the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, of alleged fraud and gross mismanagement in the implementation of the Commission’s solar street light projects across the Niger Delta region.
At a press briefing in Abuja on Monday, February 9, SBN said the project, which was meant to improve rural electrification and public safety across communities in the oil-producing region, has turned into a “monument of corruption and misplaced priorities.”
The group’s National Coordinator, Comrade Solomon Charles Ikpaka, decried that “what we see today are poles standing without light. The NDDC leadership under Samuel Ogbuku has failed the people by awarding inflated contracts to cronies who supplied poor-quality materials that cannot withstand basic weather conditions.”
The organization called for an immediate investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the National Assembly into what it described as “a systemic looting of public funds disguised as development projects.”
SBN further urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to overhaul the NDDC management and institute a transparent audit of all ongoing and completed projects under Ogbuku’s leadership.
“The Niger Delta deserves real development, not cosmetic projects that collapse within months. This solar light scam is a clear insult to the people who continue to live in darkness despite billions of naira released in their name,” the NGO stated.
“Majority of the solar-powered street lights installed under Ogbuku’s leadership are substandard, with over 80 percent no longer functioning. The situation could best be described as a monumental waste of public funds.”
Ikpaka disclosed that officials of the NGO have been moving from community to community, assessing the condition of the solar street light installations across various local government areas and state constituencies in the Niger Delta.
He said the organization will continue to release its findings with pictures and video evidence as the field assessment progresses.
“We have been on the field, moving from community to community, physically inspecting the Ogbuku-led NDDC solar street lights. The situation is alarming — most of these lights stopped working shortly after commissioning, and the locals are frustrated with the level of deception and fraud in the guise of development,” Ikpaka said.
“Anywhere you see the street lights shining well and bright, it’s because they were newly installed, just like in places like Okerenkoko, Oporoza, some areas in Yenagoa and Port Harcourt, especially in Kono, they are shining very well because they were newly commissioned, but just give them a few months and see the result.”
“Some of the solar street lights stopped working a day after installation, some didn’t work at all, some stopped working after just two weeks, while many others don’t shine till morning,” he continued.
“Some get so dim before 2 a.m., and others trip off before 4 a.m. And we wonder, why the heavy investment in solar street lights when they are not durable?”
“This is not propaganda. We have pictures and video footage of all those projects, and we will release them to the press so that those who may attack us in defense of Ogbuku can deal with the evidence we have.”
The SBN coordinator questioned the rationale behind the NDDC’s heavy investment in projects that fail to deliver sustainable impact, noting that the billions spent on substandard solar lights could have been channeled into more essential infrastructure such as roads, healthcare, and education.
“What is the essence of investing so much money in projects that do not last beyond commissioning?” Ikpaka queried.
“Was there any form of monitoring or evaluation before, during, and after these contracts were executed?”
He also expressed concern over what he described as the Commission’s misplaced priorities, saying the Ogbuku-led NDDC appears more interested in spreading defective solar street lights than addressing pressing developmental challenges in the oil-rich region.
“Let me tell you the bitter truth — in the next one to two years, we will be seeing poles standing without light for every single unit installed by the NDDC. By that time, every billion spent would have gone down the drain with no impact,” he warned.
“The truth is, the only people that will benefit from the NDDC solar street lights are the ‘iron condemn’ people. Mark my words.”
“It is unfortunate that instead of tackling the core developmental issues in the Niger Delta, the NDDC under Samuel Ogbuku is busy installing substandard solar street lights that stop functioning within weeks. This is unacceptable and insulting to the people,” Ikpaka added.
SBN called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the National Assembly, and anti-graft agencies such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to launch an immediate probe into the NDDC’s solar street light contracts to determine how public funds were utilized.
As of press time, all efforts to reach the NDDC management and Dr. Ogbuku for response proved abortive.
