From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
The Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) Worlwide, ex-agitators and the Watchdog for Progressive Ijaw (WPI) have thrown their weight behind an order of the Federal High Court restraining the Prof Keme Pondei-led Interim Management Committee (IMC) from performing the functions of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
IYC President Peter Timothy Igbifa described the court order as a vindication of the position of the IYC and called on President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately inaugurate a substantive board for the NDDC.
Igbifa, who hailed the court action, said it was long overdue insisting that it was in line with the collective interests of the Niger Delta region.
He said the IYC had been at the forefront of agitation for the dissolution of the IMC as it believed that the composition was unknown to law and illegal.
According to him the Act establishing the NDDC stipulated its modus operandi and never contemplated the deployment of an unknown committee to run its affairs.
He said the explanation that the IMC was set up to supervise the ongoing forensic audit of the commission was baseless as such function could have been performed by a substantive board.
‘We are calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to listen to the collective voice of the region and immediately inaugurate a substantive board for the NDDC,’ he said.
Igbifa continued: ‘We have said it before and we are saying it for the umpteenth time that the IMC has outlived its usefulness. Such composition is illegal and against the interests of the states that make up the NDDC.
‘The court order has further vindicated our position. The Presidency should stop provoking critical stakeholders in this region through some of its insensitive actions that serve only the interests a few greedy politicians.
‘This is the right time for the Presidency to act. The court order coincided with the expiration of the elongated tenure of the NDDC IMC. Let this illegality give way for a substantive board.’
In a similar development, the Ex-Agitators Forum led by a former Militant Commander, Ebi John, described the court order as a welcome development saying the IMC contraption remained an aberration.
John urged Buhari to seize the window created by the judgement and inaugurate a substantive board for the commission.
He warned divisive elements to stay away from the IYC and decried moves by some selfish politicians to divide the council.
Another Ijaw interest group, the Watchdog for Progressive Ijaw (WPI), declared its support for the immediate dissolution of the IMC and commended the court for its order.
WPI Coordinator Lambart Olambo described the continuous stay in office of the IMC as provocative and an aberration.
He said it smacked of insensitivity for President Muhammadu Buhari to continue to allow such illegality in the region despite outcries by IYC and other major stakeholders for the dissolution of the IMC and inauguration of a substantive board for the commission.
