From Fred Itua, Abuja
A week after President Muhammadu Buhari forwarded fresh names to the Senate for confirmation as members of the Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), new facts have emerged on how governors of the nine oil-producing states were snubbed.
Multiple sources told Daily Sun that the team that drove the processes culminating in the emergence of the new NDDC Board, especially the chairman, managing director and the two executive director-designates, were led by the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Umannah Okon Umannah and his Justice counterpart, Abubakar Malami.
President Buhari had last Wednesday urged the Senate to confirm the nomination of his Special Assistant on Social Media, Lauretta Onochie, for appointment as the substantive Chairman of the Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
He also nominated others as members of the Board including Chief Dr Samuel Ogbuku as managing director.
The NDDC board nominees, according to the letter, are Laureta Ifeanyi Onochie (Delta, South-South) as Chairman; Dimgba Erugba State representative (Abia, South-East); Dr Ene Wilcox (Akwa Ibom, State Representative, South-South); Dr Pius Odudu (Edo, South-South); Hon. Gbenga Edema (Ondo, South-West) and Engr. Anthony Ekene (Imo, South-East). Also on the board list are Mr. Onyekachi Dimgba (Rivers, South-South); Alhaji Mohammed Kabiru Abubakar (Zonal Representative, Nasarawa); Professor Tallen Mamma, SAN (North-East Representative, Adamawa); Sodique Sani (North-West, Zonal Representative); General Charles Ehigie Airhiavbere (retd) (Executive Director of Finance) and Charles Ogunmola (Executive Director Project, South-West).
Daily Sun gathered that a good number of the nominees, particularly the management team, did not have the input of the governors from the oil producing region.
The source said the reason the governors were not carried along was for the “NDDC to be partially insulated from politics.”
Nevertheless, some of the nominations might have political hurdles to scale, as Nyesom Wike and Hope Uzodimma, governors of Rivers and Imo states respectively, are said to be leading the coup to stop the two executive directors from being cleared and confirmed.
It was learnt that while the Commission’s chairmanship nominee was directly put there by the president, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, was behind the nomination of Ogbuku as managing director. Ogbuku was chief of staff to Sylva when he was governor of Bayelsa State.
In the case of the nominee for the position of executive director, finance and administration, General Airhiavbere, his service colleague, another retired Army General from the North, was said to have propped him.
According to the source, the president was “determined to discontinue the perception that the NDDC was a breeding ground for governorship aspirants and candidates.”
“Looking at the history of the NDDC, it has always been a breeding ground for governorship aspirants and candidates. So, while Mr. President personally chose the chairman with the MD going to Bayelsa for Sylva to recommend someone, Ogunmola’s nomination as executive director, projects in particular, was said to have been made possible because of his apolitical status.
“The only aspect where relevant governors became necessary was in the area of state representation on the Governing Board where recommendations from most of the governors scaled through.
“So, there came the thought that there must be someone who at least, would settle down and get the job done; and it was at that point Ogunmola was strongly recommended by someone with whom he had had a strong business and career relationship with certified records of performance.”
The official who pleaded not to be named, however, put the blame on the supervising minister. The official confided in a team of media men that the president relied on the recommendations of the minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Umannah Okon Umannah, in his decision and ultimate nominations to the Senate.
“It’s quite unfortunate that the minister did not recommend persons from the mandate areas; it has been discovered to be so and this very bad. It paints Mr President in a very bad light and this is not good at all.
“As the minister in charge, he ought to have known that the law or Act will be followed to the letters by the Senate. But as it it, there are various options open to the president because although he has already been briefed, he can no longer withdraw the letter sent to the Senate.
“But the Ondo people protesting should know that they are merely aiding the efforts of the governors of Rivers and Imo states who have made strong cases individually against Ondo State. If the protests of the people succeed, they should know that the EDP position won’t remain in Ondo State,” he revealed.