The Niger Delta Renaissance Coalition, has again rejected the imposition of Mr Effiong Okon Akwa as the sole administrator of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC.

In a statement sent to Vanguard, Comrade Damian Nwikinaka, National Chairman, insisted that Sole Administrator for NDDC is illegal and cannot be justified even by the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Chief Godswill Akpabio.

Recall that Akpabio had in a report made available to newsmen last week justified the appointment of Mr Effiong Okon Akwa as the sole administrator of the NDDC.

Reacting, Niger Delta Renaissance Coalition said: “Our attention has been drawn to a press release from the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Chief Godswill Akpabio, published in the Nation newspaper of Friday, December 18, 2020, wherein he claimed that it is legal to impose a Sole Administrator on the Niger Delta Development Commission.

We want to state categorically that it is disgraceful for Akpabio, who was a governor and senator, especially considering his training as a lawyer, to say that a position not provided for in the NDDC Establishment Act is legal simply because he has got people in the presidency that are collaborating with him. We are not unmindful of Akpabio’s mind games to confuse the issues surrounding the illegal imposition of Mr Effiong Okon Akwa as the sole administrator of the NDDC.

Specifically, the NDDC Act of 2000, as amended, only provides for a Governing Board to manage the affairs of the Commission. As has been tested in the court, on which basis the Interim Management Committee was recently disbanded, it is established fact that the interim managements so favoured by Akpabio are illegal and expose the actions of the NDDC to legal challenges if not now in the future.

We have said previously that Akpabio’s interest is not in obeying the law but exploiting the apparent disinterest of President Buhari in the NDDC and the Niger Delta to implement his own dark agenda. It is even more insulting that Akpabio makes light of the NDDC Act by asking in the same press statement, rhetorically, what benefit it has been to the Commission to have properly constituted Governing Boards over the years. This is unbecoming of a top government official who should know the importance of Law and obeying the provisions of the Law.

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It is strange how Akpabio expects any reasonable person to believe that his illegal arrangements guarantee a better NDDC than the legal provisions in the Act, which provide for a Governing Board, with a Chairman, Managing Director, Executive Director Finance and Administration, Executive Director Projects and Representatives of Constituent States and other stakeholders, all of whom are nominated by the President and confirmed by the National Assembly, and who provide checks and balances among and between themselves to ensure accountability, equity and fairness.

Aside the attempt to hide behind the presidency’s unlawful approval of the sole administrator imposition, Akpabio exposed his ignorance of both the history and workings of the NDDC when he claimed erroneously that sole administrators have been appointed for the Commission since its founding. This is not true.

According to Akpabio: “Even the first executive director of finance and administration acted as sole administrator of NDDC at various times, we have also had a sole administrator from Rivers State in the person of Semenitari, we have also had one from Cross River State, as well as Mrs. Enyia (Akwagaga) from Bayelsa while awaiting the confirmation of a board.”

Akpabio shows his incompetence, when he makes statements like the above. The executive director he referred to is Mr Timi Alaibe, who acted as MD when the pioneer MD in the person of Engr Godwin Omene resigned in 2003. Alaibe being the next senior executive director in that Board acted as MD. That of Mrs Enyia Akwagaga in August 2019 followed due process, which provides that the most senior civil servant in the Commission takes over as acting MD in the absence of a duly constituted Board.

In trying to lump the perfectly legal succession of Mr Alaibe and Mrs Akwagaga with the illegal imposition of interim managements, Akpabio is discrediting himself.

The Minister’s statement exposes his dangerous agenda to run with adhoc interim administrators as he has done over the last 15 months. In this he seems comforted that he has allies in the government who continue to show disdain for the Niger Delta people, the NDDC and the law.

In his characteristic manner, Akpabio has carried on like the forensic audit of the NDDC is an exercise that has never been done anywhere else, and for which we must pull down all legal structures. He has, along with his acolytes in the selfish agenda he is implementing, continued to give the excuse of the audit to abuse, denigrate and desecrate the NDDC Act. This is unbecoming in an administration that seeks to repair and rebuild institutions. We advise Mr President to be circumspect of his counsel and return to the full respect for the NDDC Act without further delay. Akpabio’s interest in the NDDC is only for pecuniary gains.

We are not surprised at Akpabio’s desire to sustain the imposition of Mr Effiong Akwa as NDDC Interim Administrator. The reports of the Senate recent probe and the petitions from whistleblowers indicate that billions of naira has been frittered away on non-existent contracts, financial recklessness and mismanagement in the last one year by the IMC under the guidance and supervision of Akpabio. Niger Deltans must not allow this cornering of their collective resources to continue.

We support the call by Niger Delta leaders and authentic groups, including PANDEF, Ijaw Youth Council and others for the reversal of this interim administrator imposition and the immediate inauguration of the NDDC Governing Board.

Our people are completely opposed to this interim administrator imposition by Akpabio. The NDDC Act is very clear on how the agency should be administered and we will not allow Akpabio to get away with his schemes. We call on President Buhari and the National Assembly to be mindful of their complicity in the ongoing in NDDC.

In conclusion, President Buhari should as a matter of good conscience, due process and law, put in place the NDDC Governing Board as it is clear to everyone that the interim managements being promoted by Akpabio are not only illegal and selfish, but do not serve the interest of the Niger Delta people.

Vanguard News Nigeria