By Akinwale Kasali
The House of Representatives Minority Caucus members has rejected, and condemned, in its entirety the appointments of Effiong Okon Akwa as the Sole Administrator of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC.
Over the weekend, President Muhammadu Buhari sacked Prof Kemebradikumo Daniel Pondei as interim Managing Director of the NDDC and in his place approved the appointment of Akwa, the Ag. Executive Director, Finance and Administration of the Commission, as the Sole Administrator of the Agency.
Reacting to the development, the House of Representatives Caucus, described the appointment “as a disservice to the people of the Niger Delta region”.
The Lawmakers, in a statement by the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu, described the appointment of a sole administrator for the NDDC “as a further pathway to deprive the people of the Niger Delta of the much desired infrastructural development in their area”.
The caucus stressed that: “The recourse to a sole administrator instead of the Governing Board, is ill-advised as it will promote corruption, alienate the people, trigger disagreements and worsen the managerial sleaze that is crippling the commission and impeding the development of the area.
According to the Lawmakers, “The earlier resort to an Interim Management Committee and now, a Sole Administrator, instead of a governing board, has heightened apprehension in the region. This is not healthy, particularly given the strategic place the Niger Delta occupies in national economy and development.
“Our caucus, therefore, urges President Buhari to douse the tension by immediately inaugurating a Governing Board for the NDDC as provided for in the establishment Act, so that the people of the Niger Delta region can start enjoying the much-needed infrastructural development through a properly constituted commission”.
In the same vein, former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Timi Frank, on Monday, condemned in strong terms, the appointment of a Sole Administrator (SA) for the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Frank who made this assertion in a statement in Abuja, insisted that the appointment of SA to manage the affairs of the NDDC is illegal as there is no such provision in the Act establishing the Commission.
He urged the Governors of States in the region and Elected Representatives of the people in both Chambers of the National Assembly, as well as the people of the area to outrightly reject the abnormality.
He warned that appointing SA which is against the Act establishing the Commission is “detrimental, unproductive and will end up in further destroying the already worsened situation in the NDDC.”
He vowed to challenge the appointment of the Sole Administrator in a court of competent jurisdiction should the Federal Government refuse to rescind its decision.
He noted that following the assumption of Senator Godswill Akpabio as the minister of Niger Delta Affairs, there has been an alarming rise in acts of illegalities in the Commission some of which were exposed by Committees of the National Assembly that recently probed embarrassing corrupt practices in the agency.
Frank, a consistent advocate for good governance, rule of law and equitable development of the Niger Delta region and her people, added that the already discovered cases of looting in the NDDC will get worse with the appointment of a Sole Administrator “who will ultimately be used as tool for personal gain by the cabal that facilitated his appointment and thus create ample room for more fraud, impunity and illegalities in the intervention agency.”
He urged the leaders of the Niger Delta region to reflect on the sacrifices of their leaders past, while he insisted that, “this was not what the likes of late Isaac Boro and Saro Wiwa paid the supreme price for.”
Frank said: “I want to use this medium to call upon the elders, governors and youths of the Niger Delta to reject this appointment of a stooge by Godswill Akpabio and his cohorts in the Presidency to further do their bidding in the continued impoverishment of our dear region and people.
“The reign of impunity, fraud and illegalities in the commission must not be allowed to continue.
“Why is Akpabio and his cohorts in the presidency refusing to appoint a substantive Board for the NDDC, but instead, they have moved from an Interim Management Committee to a Sole Administrator that is not known by the Act establishing the NDDC?
“If Akpabio is honest, transparent and has no skeleton or ulterior notions, why appoint a Sole Administrator from Akwa Ibom state that is against the extant Act which clearly states that the Managing Director of the NDDC must come from either Delta or Bayelsa states?”
He further warned that the appointment of a Sole Administrator was against the growth and development of the region as those behind the reprehensible development are only interested in the continued pillaging of the resources of the NDDC.
“No government since the return of democracy in Nigeria has ever stood against the development and prosperity of the people of the Niger Delta region like the regime of General Muhammadu Buhari and this, we must resist.
“The refusal to ensure that the right thing is done, will lead to protests by the good people of the Niger Delta because despite the claims of conducting a forensic audit of the NDDC, no report has been issued till date.
“This is condemnable, despicable and an outright deviation from the purpose of establishing the NDDC which is to ensure an even development of the Niger Delta region and her people. What we have today is the Niger Delta Sharing and Impoverishment Commission.”
“The NDDC is not a platform for the settlement of cronies but a commission that will help accelerate the development and growth of the Niger Delta region.
“Akpabio is only taking advantage of the people of the Niger Delta region through the Commission knowing too well that there is no President in charge of this country.
“Therefore, the needful must be done if we, genuinely, want the development and growth of the Niger Delta,” he declared.
