Act for Positive Transformation Initiatives, a Civil Society Organisation (CSO), has urged the Federal Government to constitute a substantive management for the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
The CSO made the call in a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday by Mr Johnson Kolawole, Head, Directorate of Research, Strategy and Planning.
Kolawale said that the CSO uncovered ongoing plans to appoint a sole administrator for the NDDC following the Court Order restraining the Interim Management Committee (IMC) from performing its duties.
He said that some top functionaries were plotting to hoodwink the nation into another round of circus to further impunity against the law setting up the NDDC.
“If allowed, this singular step shall sink the commission further and ruin the chances of rewriting the dark history of the commission,” he said.
Kolawole said that there was an urgent need to alert the government, the National Assembly and the general public on the latest sinister plot.
According to him, it is to plunge the NDDC into another round of crisis for selfish interest by appointing a sole administrator to run the commission against the laws setting up the interventionist agency.
“The only way forward is the immediate constitution of a substantive board answerable to the President and the people, not some puppets-turned-personal-stealing-machine.
“We call on the President to reject any maneuvering for the extension of the tenure of the present management or any attempt to bring in a sole administrator; it is not known to law.
“There is no other better time for the National Assembly to rise in defence of its functions and our laws; the tax payers look forward to this institution for hope,” he said. .
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that President Muhammadu Buhari had earlier appointed an interim management to oversee the NDDC while a forensic audit is being conducted in the organisation.
The interim management, however, came under series of allegations of maladministration which necessitated investigations by both chambers of the National Assembly. (NAN)