Group Urges Buhari to Inaugurate NDDC Substantive Board
A group, 21st Century Youths of Niger Delta and Agitators with Conscience (21st CYNDAC), has urged the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, to draw the attention of President Muhammadu Buhari to inaugurate the Niger Delta Development Commission immediately (NDDC, substantive board.
The group communicated this in a statement on Wednesday, issued by its Coordinator, Izon Ebi. They noted that the region will hold President Buhari responsible for “plunging the Niger Delta region into fresh crisis and grounding the economy of the nation if he fails to inaugurate the NDDC board.”
It also said that Niger Deltans had lost confidence in Senator Akpabio as the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs.
Parts of the statement reads: “The Honourable Minister is being seen as a confusionist that can trade his people and the peace of the Niger Delta region for his political aspirations and selfish disposition and gains. The 21st CYNDAC condemns in strong terms the antics of the Honourable Minister of Niger Delta Affairs Sen Godswill Akpabio because his body language and actions are no longer Honourable as a result of his selfishness, inconsistencies and falsehood that clearly portray him as a confusionist.”
21st CYNDAC also stated that Senator Akpabio “has succeeded in running the NDDC aground by putting everybody in the Niger Delta in an auto-route mood of imminent violence and anarchy.”
Izon Ebi further contended that “Akpabio is running the NDDC as his private owned company. Niger Deltans are awakened with bogus allegations of bribery and payments of frivolous water-desilting jobs that are not done anywhere in the region because of his kickbacks without the jobs done. We are back to the status quo because the sole administrator too is collecting kickback for every payment made to contractors.”
The group added that “it is glaringly clear that Akpabio has succeeded in arm-twisting Mr. President to concede the supervision of the NDDC to himself, which is now administered as a private owned company.”
According to Izon Ebi, “Nigerians and Niger Deltans know the truth and cannot be hoodwinked by the bogus, frivolous and politically motivated forensic audit that was done to muzzle Niger Deltans under Akpabio’s political dominance.”
The group also lamented that “as it stands, the North East Development Commission (NEDC) is making progress without any significant contribution to the nation’s GDP but the Niger Delta region that pays the supreme sacrifice of contributing eighty percent to the nation’s GDP is being used by some so-called leaders and politicians for political brinkmanship and showmanship to the detriment of the pathetic plight of the Niger Delta region and its people.”
