Protest Over NDDC ; Itsekiris Urge FG Not To Inaugurate Board

By Ayodele Oni

Itsekiri leaders from Delta state have petitioned the Attorney General of the Federation, (AGF) Abubakar Malami, over the constitution of the board of Niger/Delta Development Commission,(NDDC) urging that the inauguration of the board should be put on hold.

The Itsekiri leaders advised President Muhammadu Buhari and the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Mr Umana Okon Umana, to resist any temptation to hurriedly inaugurate the board of the commission.

The board is expected to be inaugurated on Thursday following members clearance by the national assembly in December.

Their grouse is the emergence of  Mrs. Lauretta Onochie and Chief Samuel Ogbuku, as chairman and managing director of the commission, which they believe does not conform with the law establishing the commission.

“As the Chief Law Officer of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and a strong proponent of the Rule of Law, you will not in any way advise the President and indeed the Minister of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, to proceed with the inauguration of Mrs. Lauretta Onochie and Chief Samuel Ogbuku on January 4, 2023, as the Chairman and Managing Director respectively of the NDDC and or concretize their positions, pending the outcome of the adjudicatory process already initiated by our Clients.”

In the letter, made available on Tuesday and written by Ama Etuwewe (SAN) & Co, Solicitors to the Itsekiri Ethnic Nationality ably represented by Chief Edward Ekpoko, Mr. Edward Omagbemi and Engineer Victor Wood, the leaders urged the Minister of Justice to counsel the relevant parties on the need to allow the judicial process take its course and refrain from taking steps which will ridicule the Rule of Law and further weaken our nascent democratic structure.

The letter is titled: RE: Pending suit filed by the Itsekiri Ethnic Nationality; Order of the Federal High Court Abuja.

It is supported with an application to set aside the purported screening and confirmation of Mrs. Lauretta Onochie and Chief Samuel Ogbuku as Chairman and Managing Director respectively of the NDDC by the National Assembly.

The screening was carried out on December 21, 2022, in the face of the processes and order of court in suit NO. FHC/ABJ/CS/2294/2022, in which you are a party, the leaders urged the executive arm to comply

“Having fought to ensure that there is peace and stability in the Country, it would be manifestly antithetical to the goals of this Administration of which you are a key player, if solely for a refusal to await and comply with the judicial process, all the Executive has worked for in the past seven (7) years, translates to naught.”

The leaders reminded the Attorney General of the need to stay every action that will adversely affect the outcome of the adjudicatory process.

“As the Chief Law Officer of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and a party in the suit, you are doubtless aware of the position of the law which is to the effect that once there is a pending litigation, all parties to the suit are expected to stay every action that will adversely affect the outcome of the adjudicatory process so as not to render the said process a nullity and foist upon the court a fait accompli’’

The grouse of the Itsekiri leaders, according to the letter, is that since the inception of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in 2001, the Itsekiri Ethnic Nationality has not occupy the positions of chairman and managing director.

They claimed that over 21 oil-producing communities and producing about 58 percent of the crude oil in Delta State and 17 percent of the Country’s crude oil production, are located in their area

“We are doubtless major contributor to the Crude Oil and Gas Resources in Nigeria, which by virtue thereof, the Itsekiri communities suffered and continues to suffer the attendant environmental degration and total neglect.