Effect of Due Process on the Management of Public Funds in Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Port Harcourt Rivers State, Nigeria

This study examined the effect of due process on the management of public funds in Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. A descriptive research design was used in executing the study with 269 selected sampled respondents. The core aspect of the study is the use of cross-sectional survey research design in generating the required primary data. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The questionnaire was designed to obtain a fair representation of the opinion of the respondents using a five-point Likert scale. The questionnaire responses of the sample respondents were presented using tables. Primary data of the demographic characters were presented with the use of percentage. The hypotheses formulated were tested using the one sample t-test, Pearson Product Moment Correlation co-efficient and regression method. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) technique software version 20 was employed to aid the data analysis. The results revealed that there is significant compliance of due process in the award of contracts in Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Port-Harcourt, Rivers State, the accounting system in the public sector positively relates with proper financial accountability and transparency of stewardship and misappropriation of funds significantly affects the proper execution of developmental projects. It is recommended that the Managing Director should reinforce its monitoring team for proper and regular monitoring of the projects and should equally ensure that due process is always, strictly and adequately implemented. Competent contractors that use quality materials should be allowed to execute developmental projects. Inclusive measures should be taken to ensure that the Commission’s management does not allow influential political contractors to cart away with the Commission’s funds for their personal use instead of executing the projects awarded to them.