The Ijaw Publishers' Forum (IPF), Nigeria’s foremost media body representing Ijaw interests, has urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to launch a thorough probe into Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), over allegations of financial mismanagement surrounding the Youth Internship scheme known as "HOPE." The IPF raised concerns that despite claims by Ogbuku that 10,000 beneficiaries were selected to receive N50,000 monthly stipends through the programme, there has been no visible evidence of its implementation, especially in the core oil-producing, riverine communities. According to the group, many of these areas lack internet access and smartphones—basic requirements for participating in an online registration process. The forum stated that those supposed "10,000 empowered youths" remain untraceable, describing them as “ghosts” and warning that Ogbuku may eventually face legal consequences for what it termed deceptive and unimpactful projects. In a press release signed by IPF spokesman Comrade Ezekiel Kagbala and distributed to journalists in Abuja on Monday, the group declared: *"There are claims that 10,000 selected beneficiaries of the NDDC’s Youth Internship scheme have been receiving a monthly stipends of N50,000. However, IPF said such projects or programmes were scams with ghost identities being deliberately orchestrated to misappropriate the public funds, 'Ogbuku should publish the beneficiaries and their account numbers, including figures allocated to each state in the nine Niger Delta States and criteria for the selection. The people of Niger Delta are eager to know how their money is spent',"* he stated. The IPF insisted on full transparency regarding the project and challenged the NDDC to account for how funds earmarked for youth empowerment were disbursed. *"The youth of the Niger Delta deserves better,"* the statement added. *"We cannot allow the funds meant for their development to be mismanaged or siphoned off. We urge the EFCC to act swiftly and investigate funds allocated to Projects 'HOPE' and other unrealistic projects of the commission under Dr. Ogbuku to restore public confidence in the NDDC."* Reaffirming its commitment to accountability, IPF vowed to keep a close watch on the commission’s activities while urging the general public to report abandoned and fraudulent NDDC projects for further scrutiny. It concluded with a scathing rebuke of the commission’s leadership: *"The Project HOPE was just a mere paper work created to divert funds meant to develop the Niger Delta region, and that it is unparalleled absurdity, broad day robbery and gross corruption of Ogbuku led NDDC for replacing and shortchanged over 10,000 Niger Delta youths with non-existent entities.* *"Ogbuku's management of NDDC is terrible, opaque and lacks accountability, Niger Delta people have the rights of benefit from an interventionist agency created to transform their lives and as such it is grave injustice and affront on the Niger Delta people who have been replaced with ghost entities,"* they concluded.