NDDC: IPDI condemns interim committee, warns Delta must produce chairman in substantive board
By Ndu Samuel / Binebai Princewill
The leadership of the Ijaw Peoples Development Initiative (IPDI) has condemned in totality the idea of setting up interim committee for forensic audit in the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC.
The revered socio cultural group also warned that come rain and come shine, it is now the turn of Delta State to produce chairman of the commision in the substantive board, saying that anything short of that is an aberration and contravenes the law establishing the commission.
National President of the group, Comr. Austin Ozobo through a press statement issued to newsmen on Tuesday in Warri insisted that it is the turn of Delta State to produce the current Niger Delta Development commission, NDDC, Chairman and not Edo state.
The explained that ”the appointment of Dr Pius Odubu from Edo state as the substantive Chairman of the NDDC board contravene the laws establishing the Commission, ” saying ”the act explicitly made it clear that the position of the Chairman should be rotated among NDDC member states on alphabetic order”.
Ozobo said ”going by the alphabetical order, the first chairman was produced by Abia which is Mr.Oyema Oguchukwu in 2001, followed by Akwa Ibom, Amb. Sam Edem, then Baylesa, Larry Konya and Dr, Timipa, while Cross River produced Bassy Ewa – Henshaw appointed by President Goodluck Jonathan.
Explaining futher, the IPDI chair said that ”according to the alphabetical order in the NDDC act which has been the guiding principle of the commission since its creation,it is now the turn of alphabet D, and alphabet D, stands for Delta State and not Edo state.”
He declared that ”by the analysis above it is clear that the appointment of Edo man as the current NDDC Chairman is illegal as it violates the act of the commission of year 2000, volume 4.”
He noted that, if for any reason such appointment is going to Edo state its should be for the Ijaw ethnic nationality of Edo state, saying that appointing a man from the Bini tribe whom he said ”do not produced a drop of oil in Edo state as chairman in NDDC board is unacceptable, distrusting, an injustice that need to be corrected with immediate effect.
”Again, the MD of the commission is to be rotated by production quantum and currently Bayelsa produced the highest quantum of oil and not Delta. It is also expected that the MD position be zoned to Bayelsa state, and the Chairman position return back to Delta State , and the current two illegal boards; both alleged substantive and interim be dissolved and fresh board inline with the NDDC establishment act be consituted.
”Besides, we see no necessity to set up an Interim Management Board to pilot the affairs of the forensic audit. It’s a deliberate clog on the wheel of development in the region and to distract smooth running of the commission.
”We are aware that during President Goodluck Jonathan administration there was a forensic audit in NNPC. It did not shutdown NNPC activities, and no interim management board was set up to oversee the audit.
”Similar thing happened in Oando PLC, a forensic audit was carried out by Deloitte and Touche, which indicted the oil firm of various scandals and infractions that led to its suspension by Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC. This was carried out without a shutdown of activities in Oando, and was not done by an interim Management committee.
”Audit is normally Carried out by government internal and external auditors. The Akpabio interim committee is set up with a dark motives as it is unnecessary burden to the government.
”A simple question to answer, If Akpabio does not have confidence in the substantive NDDC board to suppervise the forensic audit, what makes him to believe that Joy Gbeneh Nunieh who is a Rivers State representative in the substantive NDDC board will not compromise being appointed as chairman of the interim Management committee? ”
”It is a fact that, the NDDC substantive Board too is faulty. With the zoning of the chairmanship to Edo state which is a violation or contravention of the NDDC establishment ACT. We want it to be corrected as well but if the authorities concerned fail to correct it ,we believe it will be corrected through various legal actions pending in the law court.
”Similarly, It is Ijaw turn to produce the current Chairman of NDDC board, apart from acting capacity since the creation of the commission no Ijaw man in Delta State has been appointed as substantive chairman of NDDC board.
”It is disgusting, the Uhrobo’s produced the nation’s deputy Senate president, the minister of labour and illegal board MD Uhrobo and Ed project , Uhrobo. It is unfair, Uhrobo’s are not the only tribe or oil producing ethnic nationality in Delta State. Senator Omo_agege is turning a greedy politician, and this will affect him of his guber ambition in 2023 in Delta State.
”In same vein, we want presidency to take over supervision of NDDC back from Niger Delta ministry led by Godswill Akpabio, a power drunk Niger Delta Minister. We have lost confidence in him,we do not believe that he has the capacity to function as Niger Delta Minister, looking at the political diversity and ethnic complexity of the region.
It is glaring that NDDC will die a natural death and its purpose of creation will be defeated if allowed to be watch over by Godswill Akpabio who is desperate to farm on it.” He said
