The Niger Delta Accountability Forum (NDAF), has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to as a matter of urgency ordered the return of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), to the supervision of the Office of the Secretary to Government of the Federation in order to save the Commision from total collapse.
According to a statement signed by the Coordinator of NDAF, Comrade Omatseye Dan-Jack, NDAF a copy of which was made available to the Nigerian Tribune on Tuesday noted that:”In the light of surreptitious moves to appoint another Interim Administrator or Sole Administrator in the name of Acting Managing Director for NDDC, it has become expedient to call on President Muhamadu Buhari to, without further delay, return the NDDC to the Office of Secretary to the Federal Government pending the composition of substantive management team as was the case prior to August 22, 2019 directive mandating the former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio to exercise supervisory roles in NDDC.
“The Coalition of Niger Delta youths under the platform of NDAF regrets that the supervisory role granted the former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs understandably for the purposes of coordinating the forensic audit ordered by President Buhari is being exploited to arbitrarily annex the administration of the NDDC, as well as for subtle and overt perpetuation of interim regime in the Commission.
“More importantly, NDAF is calling on President Buhari to exercise his statutory duty under Section 2 (2) (a) of the NDDC Act by constituting a Governing Board for the Commission in line with Section 2 of the NDDC (Establishment) Act No 6 of 2000, to wit: There is hereby established for the Commission a governing Board (the Board) which shall consist of a Chairman with representatives of the 9 Niger Delta States, the Federal Ministries of Finance & Environment, oil companies representative, a Managing Director and 2 Executive Directors who must be appointees of the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“NDAF wishes to reiterate the calls by concerned stakeholders including eminent leaders of thoughts and patriots of the Niger Delta region, civil society organisations for the urgent attention to the emerging development in the NDDC to forestall the perpetuation of arbitrariness.”
“NDAF therefore wishes to call on the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), the Secretary to the Federal Government (SGF), the President of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives and the respective Committees of the Niger Delta in the House of Representatives and the Senate to urgently intervene and save the NDDC from the inordinate ambition of a few privilege individuals who prefer reign of arbitrariness to the triumph of rule of law in NDDC.”
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