NDDC applies strategy to free 180 projects from EIA overhang for years - Businessday NG

…MD says no EIA certificate, no payment to consultants

About 180 projects long completed by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) within 2014, 2026, and 2022, have been idle due to absence of environmental impact assessment (EIA) certification by the Federal Ministry of Environment.

Now, the Management of the Commission has found a strategy by applying ‘no EIA, no payment’ to the consultants obligated to acquire the certifications. By this pronouncement, 180 such certifications are now being processed.

This is because the NDDC is said to have intensified efforts to conclude all pending EIA certification processes for the projects spread across the Niger Delta region.

Speaking during a meeting with EIA consultants at the Commission’s Headquarters, Anthony Akpan, the Director, Environmental Protection and Control, said the Commission had recorded significant progress in resolving long-standing EIA certification issues affecting projects awarded in the 2014, 2016, and 2022 fiscal cycles.