From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
Ijaw Youths from the nine states of the Niger Delta region have accused ministers and politicians from the region for the delay in the constitution of the substantive board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
According to the Ijaw Youths under the umbrella body of the Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) worldwide, the delay is caused by the power struggle and open display of greed by the ministers on who becomes the Managing Director of the Commission.
The IYC in a statement issued in Yenagoa, by its national spokesman, Mr Ebilade Ekerefe, appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari not to allow the selfish antics of his Ministers to undermine his efforts in the Niger Delta as well as frustrate the existing peace that the region had enjoyed for some time now.
Ekerefe noted that the entire ijaw nation is angry and disappointed at the conduct of the politicians and is ready to unveil their true identity if they don’t desist from their evil ways.
The statement read in part:”It has come to the notice of the entire youths of the region that these ministers and some high profile members of the National Assembly from the region are engaged in selfish battles over the choice of who mount the saddle of leadership in the NDDC. These politicians are trying to usurp the powers of the President to foist a board that will work for their personal interest and not that of the region”.
“Is it not enough that President Buhari has refused to publish the audit report where their names and that of their cronies are evidently visible as part of those who ferried away the development fund voted for the region under the NDDC despite calls from stakeholders to publish the report?
“We are warning them that if they refuse to allow President Buhari set up the board with their unnecessary power tussles, the Ijaw youths will convene an enlarged meeting where their names will be read out and necessary sanctions served them.
“These anti-Niger Delta elements should stop pulling resources together and wasting time and energy to lobby the presidency for their preferred choice.
“While we are calling for the appointment of an Ijaw (a Bayelsan to be precise) as a substantive Managing Director (MD) of the Niger Delta Development Commission, some greedy vultures who live to feed fat in the rot taking place at the commission as a result of their personal greed and interest, are now using the weight of their high profile political appointments to truncate the efforts, all in the suspicion that those who may emerge may not be their loyalists.”