The interim administrator of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mr Efiong Akwa has vowed to redeem the commission’s image and foster more collaboration with governors.
He said the NDDC would do its best to strengthen the relationship with the state governments to make them partners and not competitors.
Corporate Affairs Director, Charles Odili, said Akwa spoke at the fourth meeting of the National Council on Niger Delta in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
The administrator was quoted as saying: “The Niger Delta Development is ready, we have come up with a theme: ‘Redeeming the image of NDDC’ that will drive the Commission.
“We will engage the governors, the royal fathers and other stakeholders so that we harmonise the needs assessment and set our priorities right and also get them tackled.
“There should be no competition. We will work together as a team and the taxpayers’ money will not be wasted.
“I want to plead that the peace in the Niger Delta should be maintained because there is no meaningful development that can take place without peace.”
A militant group, the 21st Century Youths of the Niger Delta and Agitators with Conscience (21st CYNDAC), praised President Muhammadu Buhari for sticking to the implementation of the NDDC forensic audit.
It said the gang-up and stiff opposition against the appointment of Akwa was a last resort to truncate the forensic audit by some disgruntled stakeholders.
The group, in an electronic mail by its Coordinator, ‘General’ Izon Ebi, described the appointment of Akwa, former NDDC Acting Executive Director (Finance and Administration), as commendable, describing him as a round peg in a round hole.
The 21st CYNDAC said the threat to destroy oil installations by some militants and the objection by the Minority Leader of the National Assembly were baseless because Niger Deltans are fully in support of the forensic audit.
The group said: “The forensic audit of the commission ordered by President Buhari must be satisfactorily carried out based on the need to set a good precedent for the incoming substantive administration to follow.
“If the forensic audit of the commission fails, it means the purveyors of administrative rascality and corrupt tendencies would continue to strive. It also means that the commission in itself would forever be run by a few to the detriment of all.
“Therefore, the current gang-up and stiff opposition against Mr Effiong Akwa is the last resort of the guilty to truncate the forensic audit.”
Also yesterday, ex-agitators under the aegis of the Leadership, Peace and Cultural Development Initiative (LPCDI) urged Akwa to pay attention to issues of contract awards and execution.
In a statement by 21 delegates from the nine Southsouth states and delivered at a briefing by the National Secretary, Nature Dumalekieghe, the group expressed confidence in Akwa’s ability to clear the decades of the mess created by past leaderships of the commission.
It urged President Buhari to prevail on relevant authorities to release the N1 trillion owes the Commission to facilitate the expected transformation of the region.
The group urged Akwa to pay attention to contract execution and ensure that only standard jobs are delivered.
The Network Advancement Programme for Poverty and Disaster Risks Reduction yesterday said Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, should not be blamed for the sack of the Prof. Kemebradikumo Pondei-led Interim Management Committee (IMC).
It said Akpabio had no hand in the sack of NDDC IMC.
The group, in a statement by the President, Al Mustapha Emem Edoho and Secretary, Aniekan Willie Akpan, said the Federal Government stated the reasons for the sack of the IMC clearly.
The group said that its position became necessary following a letter by Reformed Niger Delta Avengers (RNDA) to the Presidency protesting an alleged plan to appoint an Akwa Ibom man as the Sole Administrator of the Commission.
It said: “In sacking the Pondei team, the Presidency had clearly stated that it decided because of the ‘plethora of litigations and a restraining order issued recently against the Interim Management Committee of the NDDC by a Federal High Court in Abuja,’ and to avoid a vacuum while reconstituting the board.”
The implication, it said, “is that Akpabio had no hand in the decision to sack the IMC or in the appointment of Mr Akwa as the sole administrator.”
It said the objection by the Minority Caucus of the House of Representatives has not introduced any fundamental or new issue that should stop the appointment of a sole administrator of the commission for now.
It asked the House of Representatives Minority Caucus to pursue the payment of the trillion naira arrears outstanding to the Commission to enable it to fulfil its obligations.
Also yesterday, immediate-past NDDC Executive Director of Projects, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh, denied an allegation that a rift between him and Akwa led to Pondei’s sack.
He was reacting to a report that there was “showdown” between them over certain documents.
In a statement by his spokesman, Gabriel Choba, Ojougboh said the IMC had refused to approve contract payments for the peddler of the online report, having verified that his interim payment certificates (IPCs) were fake.
He emphasised that the NDDC is no longer as it used to be, where such cases could have been manipulated, hence the continued blackmail against him (Ojougboh), by the author of the report.
He further called on Niger Deltans to continue to support the forensic audit to move the agency forward.
The statement reads: “Dr Cairo Ojougboh is very thankful to the President and Senator Akpabio for giving him (Ojougboh) the opportunity to serve.
“He is irrevocably committed to supporting the sole-administratorship of Mr Akwa.
“Therefore, any attempt to cause confusion or smear campaign against the person of the sole administrator will be highly resisted. The forensic audit must be completed because the commission is moving forward.
“Niger Deltans should continue to support the forensic audit under the supervision of Senator Godswill Akpabio to deliver.”
