The forum, in a rejoinder signed by the Coordinating Secretary, Dr Alfred Mulade and made available to journalists in Warri, Delta State, requested all stakeholders to be wary of elements ‘whose intents and activities are inimical to peace, stability and development of the Niger Delta region.”
A coalition of acclaimed militants under the aegis of Pan Niger Delta People’s Congress (PNDPC), led by the leader of Reformed Niger Delta Avengers (RNDA) ‘Major General’ Johnmark Ezonbi, aka Obama, had last weekend declared that thevChief Edwin Clark-led PANDEF can no longer enter into negotiations with the Federal Government on behalf of the region.
The militants denounced Clark and other PANDEF members as the “Idols of under-development in the Niger Delta, ” who had milked the people and spearheaded underdevelopment in the region.
Mulade, restated relevance of PANDEF to the region, saying it “remains a not-for-profit, non-political and non-religious regional organisation, with its members cut across all political, cultural and religious divides, the undisputed voice of the region.”
According to him, PANDEF is “certainly not a platform for seeking political, social or pecuniary tendencies, as some persons would want to erroneously think.”
He, therefore, urged the Federal Government and other stakeholders to ignore the rantings of the coordinator of PNDPC, Chief Mike Loyibo and the acclaimed head of the group, His Royal Majesty, Pere Ayemi-Botu, Paramount Ruler of Seimbiri Kingdom that PANDEF had ceased to represent the region.
He described as unfortunate the conscription of HRM Ayemi-Botu, wondering how “a reverred monarch would allow himself to be dragged into such an ignoble exercise, under the coordination of Loyibo.”
“It is very probable that HRM Ayemi-Botu’s journey on this path of vendetta might not be unconnected with the grouse that he was not among the PANDEF delegates that had a meeting with Prof. Yemi Osinbajo at the State House, Abuja, on August 3, 2017, where PANDEF had useful discussions on the need for the urgent implementation of the 16 -Point Agenda, beginning with the various pronouncements made by the Acting President, during his tour of the region, ” Mulade alleged.
and then