The Miger Delta Renaissance Coalition has challenged the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, over the legaloty of having a Sole Administrator in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) .
Reacting to Akpabio’s position the it was legal to have a sole administrator at NDDC, the groyp said a position not provided for in the NDDC Establishment Act is illegal.
“Specifically, the NDDC Act of 2000, as amended, only provides for a Governing Board to manage the affairs of the Commission. As has been tested in the court, on which basis the Interim Management Committee was recently disbanded, it is established fact that the interim managements so favoured by Akpabio are illegal and expose the actions of the NDDC to legal challenges if not now in the future,” it said in a statement by Comrade Damian Nwikinaka, National Chairman.
The group said Akpabio’s interest is not in obeying the law but exploiting the apparent disinterest of President Muhammadu Buhari in the NDDC and the Niger Delta to implement his agenda.
“It is even more insulting that Akpabio makes light of the NDDC Act by asking in the same press statement, rhetorically, what benefit it has been to the Commission to have properly constituted Governing Boards over the years. This is unbecoming of a top government official who should know the importance of Law and obeying the provisions of the Law,” the group said.
The Niger Delta Renaissance Coalition said there is no basis to compare interim or sole administrators to a Governing Board buly nominated by the President and confirmed by the National Assembly, “and who provide checks and balances among and between themselves to ensure accountability, equity and fairness.”
It said that even though the minister supervising NDDC, Akpabio exposed his ignorance of both the history and workings of the NDDC when he “claimed erroneously that sole administrators have been appointed for the Commission since its founding. This is not true…The executive director he referred to is Mr Timi Alaibe, who acted as MD when the pioneer MD in the person of Engr Godwin Omene resigned in 2003. Alaibe being the next senior executive director in that Board acted as MD. That of Mrs Enyia Akwagaga in August 2019 followed due process, which provides that the most senior civil servant in the Commission takes over as acting MD in the absence of a duly constituted Board.”
The group said the Minister’s statement exposes his agenda to run with adhoc interim administrators as he has done over the last 15 months.
“In this he seems comforted that he has allies in the government who continue to show disdain for the Niger Delta people, the NDDC and the law,” it said.
The group expressed support forvthe call by Niger Delta leaders and groups for the reversal of this interim administrator decision and the immediate inauguration of the NDDC Governing Board.
“Our people are completely opposed to this interim administrator imposition by Akpabio. The NDDC Act is very clear on how the agency should be administered and we will not allow Akpabio to get away with his schemes. We call on President Buhari and the National Assembly to be mindful of their complicity in Akpabio’s ongoing rape of the NDDC,” the group said.
It urged President Buhari to put in place the NDDC Governing Board “as it is clear to everyone that the interim managements being promoted by Akpabio are not only illegal and selfish, but do not serve the interest of the Niger Delta people.”
