Chinelo Obogo
Right activist and Igba of Warri, Rita-Lori Ogbebor, has said the Federal Government must urgently convene a meeting of stakeholders of the Niger Delta to review the original Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) masterplan.
Ogbebor, who had spoken against the appointment of a new executive for the commission, said the reason for the establishment of NDDC by former president, Olusegun Obasanjo has not been fulfilled.
She commended the decision of President Muhammadu Buhari for ordering an audit of the commission, saying an audit is long overdue and will save the country from crisis.
“I have to thank President Buhari for meeting with governors of the Niger Delta states on the NDDC board appointments. The matter of the NDDC was discussed and he said it was very serious and requires forensic auditing. The audit of NDDC is long overdue and the decision to audit saved the country and indeed the Niger Delta from crisis. The region could have been pushed into crises by a few greedy people which could have painted the present administration in a bad light. It could have also portrayed Buhari as a weak man without integrity and APC could have been looked upon as a pack of greedy people.
“I was one of those who fought hard during the Niger Delta crisis for the creation of NDDC and when it was finally created by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, there was a master plan. But today, we do not know what has happened to that plan. Are we still following it? What plans are we executing? Where are we now? We want to know how much has been spent so far and what it has been spent on.
“We want the Federal Government to invite Obasanjo, the past and present governors of the Niger Delta, the past and present executive of the NDDC and all relevant stakeholders to a meeting to discuss on the original master plan of the NDDC and what has become of it. NDDC was created because oil producing states lacked basic infrastructure and the government of the day felt that there was need to build facilities in the region at the time.”