JFemi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
Former commander of the defunct Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) and ex-militant leader, Ebikabowei Victor-Ben, also known as General Boyloaf, has backed President Muhammadu Buhari over the ordered forensic audit of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
According to him, the forensic audit would rid the commission free of corruption and turned it into a infrastructure-oriented commission for the people of the region.
Boyloaf, who rated Buhari high over the ordered forensic audit, insisted the people of the region are more elated that the present administration is the first and only president in Nigeria to have directed the searchlight and ordered a forensic audit of the almost 20 years of existence of the NDDC.
He, however, appealed to the president to ignore the calls for the scrapping of the commission, adding that instead of the calls for the scrapping, the National Assembly, the NDDC IMC and the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, should sheathe their swords and work towards a repositioned commission in line with timely execution, completion and submission of forensic audit reports to Mr. President.
Victor-Ben, in a statement, via electronic mail, said though the ex-agitators and other stakeholders from the nine states of the Niger Delta are concerned about controversies surrounding the commission, there is the need for a sustainable mechanism to be put in place to checkmate non-performing the Federal Government interventionist agency to work more in synergy with the various stakeholders in the states, local governments and communities in the region.
“The president’s action, which is being resisted by some corrupt few, has confirmed to the people of the Niger Delta that the president’s penchant for accountability and probity is second to none. It also confirms the president’s interest that a corruption free NDDC is for the benefit of the people in the region, and for the commission to use the scarce resources judiciously for the interest of the Niger Delta people,” he said..
