The Senate Committee on Niger Delta Development Commission has vowed to ensure that International Oil Companies operating in the country pay their contributions to the coffers of the commission.

Senator Ned Nwoko, a member of the committee, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja on Sunday. 

He said that the IOCs owed the commission hundreds of billions of dollars and that the committee would invite and investigate them to ensure they pay their contributions.

Nwoko also said that the committee would ensure effective project execution by the NDDC. He said that the committee would not accept any form of compromise from its members and that they would be held accountable for their actions.

“We must also insist that they do that. They must do that. You know, they are owing hundreds of billions of dollars to NDDC coffers. So we will invite them, we will investigate them and we will make sure they do what is right.

“We don’t want to interfere with their works, but they have an obligation under the laws of Nigeria, they have obligation to host communities. They must deal with that.

“I don’t think any member of the committee on NDDC will be compromised because we will not accept it,” he said.

The lawmaker also expressed satisfaction with the composition of the current NDDC leadership put together by President Bola Tinubu and said he had confidence in their capacity. He said that the new NDDC leadership understood that this was a new era and that things would not be done like in the past.

Nwoko stressed the need for all contractors to deliver on their undertakings, adding that there would be no excuses.