The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has been urged to leverage technology to improve funding for the commission.

Daily Trust reports that the commission’s establishment Act in 2017 provided an exclusive means for funding, comprising 15 per cent from the federal government, three per cent from the annual budget of oil-producing companies operating offshore and onshore in the Niger Delta and 50 per cent from ecological funds and other grants.

Speaking during a three-day retreat, themed: “Promoting legal service efficiency and excellence in the public sector,” organised by the commission’s Directorate of Legal Services, the keynote speaker, Malachy Ugwummadu expressed concerns over non-compliance by some oil-producing companies.

He said the use of technology would aid the commission in enforcing payments of the three per cent from defaulting oil-producing companies.

• Go to work or get sacked in 72hrs, Ebonyi Gov tells striking workers
• Okpebholo swears in 3 judges ignored by Obaseki

“There is hardly little you can do if you are analogous when you indeed ought to be at the same pace with the tech evolution that has come.

“Every oil and gas processing company ought to pay 3 per cent of their annual budget to the commission. The question is how many of them are doing that?

“The cases I cited had to do with those who were running away from that obligation. What is the capacity of the commission to enforce its onward because if that happens the funds and resources to operationalise their objectives will be easy,” he said.

Earlier, the commission’s director of legal services, Stephen Ighomuaye reflected on the role of the department in the existence of the commission, expressing a commitment to elevate its performance.