From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
The Ijaw Youth Council ( IYC) Worldwide has dismissed as “untrue” the report attributed to its President, Mr Timothy Igbifa calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to sack the present Interim Management Committee (IMC) of the NDDC.
According to the IYC, the position attributed to Igbifa does not represent the overall position of the Ijaw youths as reflected in the recent seven points presented by the South South Governors during the last stakeholders meeting held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
IYC in a statement signed by it national spokesman, Mr Ebilade Ekerefe, said instead of calling for the sack of the IMC of the NDDC, the sponsors of the purported report should focus on the call on President Muhammadu Buhari to concentrate on an appreciable increase in the funding allocated to the NDDC for smooth ND effective delivery of the Federal Government mandate to the region.
According to him the sponsors should also prevail on President Buhari to ensure that the oil multinationals make the 3 per cent contributions to the NDDC account as provided in the Act establishing the Commission to ensure more development to oil communities in the region.
Ebilade who picked holes in the statement credited to Igbifa as not the true position of Ijaw Youth Council said the problem facing every management of NDDC is too much interference by government and political class.
The IYC spokesman said it is diversionary to call for the sack of a committee headed by an Ijaw man at a time the Council had aligned itself with the seven point demands of the governors to the federal government in the south south stakeholders meeting.
“NDDC has become a cash cow for politicians and too much interference has is the real problem facing the commission, and these has also contributed to agency not being able to achieve what the region had expected.
“Our request as Ijaw Youths concerning NDDC is very simple, let the political class allow management to look at the mandate of commission and work according to the master plan of the agency.”
“The IYC however aligned itself with the seven points as presented by the Governors on Resources Control, True Federalism and equitable development to the Niger Delta region.”