South-South leaders, NDDC at war over governing board

…Disregard Akpabio —Clark

…Akpabio not meddling in running of NDDC  —Jaro Egbo

…PANDEF calls on govs, ministers, S’South politicians to work in unity

…Ikponmwen, ex-Army provost marshal, Senator Ekpenyong back govs

By Emma Amaize, Regional Editor, South-Souta, Davies Iheamnachor, Chioma Onuegbu & Ozioruva Aliu

South South leader, Senator Edwin Clark, Niger-Delta stakeholders and Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, yesterday, disagreed over the constitution of the governing board of the commission and the involvement of Senator Godswill Akpabio, Minister of Niger-Delta Affairs in running of the interventionist agency.

Chief Clark, asked Governors of Niger-Delta states to disregard the tantrum of  Akpabio, but rather see President Muhammadu Buhari face to face in Aso Villa and explain why he should quickly inaugurate the Governing Board of the NDDC.

On its part, Pan Niger-Delta Forum, PANDEF, an umbrella group of monarchs, leaders and stakeholders of the coastal states of Niger-Delta, chose to remain neutral when contacted by Vanguard, saying governors, ministers and political leaders of the South-South should bury the hatchet and work together in the interest of the region.

Meanwhile, prominent South-South leader and former Provost Marshal, Nigerian Army, Brigadier-General Idada Ikponmwen (retd), Senator Christopher Ekpenyong representing Ikot Ekpene senatorial district and others, threw their weight behind the South-South governors, who demanded that disbursements to NDDC, except salaries, should be put in an escrow account until the commission’s screened and approved board is inaugurated.

But NDDC, has said there was a new order in the interventionist agency and  that Akpabio, was not interfering in the day-to-day running of the commission.

Clark, who told the story of how NDDC was formed and the role of Niger-Delta leaders, who had to lobby the National Assembly to veto former President Olusegun Obasanjo when he refused to sign the bill after mobilizing for the formation of the commission, said: “The governors are right that whatever is approved for capital expenditure in the NDDC budget, except salaries and overhead charges, should be kept in an escrow account until a board is inaugurated.

“I am supporting the governors, the money should be escrowed, only salaries should be paid. No new contract should be awarded. Akpabio should not take NDDC money to award a contract for East-West Road, he is wrong.

“The governors did not give order to President Buhari as Akpabio claimed. No, the law setting up NDDC provides a space for the governors to function, they are in the Advisory Council, they have a duty and if they perform this duty, they have to communicate and advise the President.

“It is not Akpabio that they have to advise as Advisory Council, Akpabio was never in charge of NDDC and the commission is not part of Akpabio’s ministry. It is just a recent transfer, whereas the position of the governors is in the law setting up NDDC. They are to advice Mr President and the NDDC board.

“So Akpabio is wrong, he is wrong in reacting when the President is yet to speak. Let the governors of Niger Delta disregard Akpabio’s mischief, go and meet Mr President, advise him and present your case. Ask him about the forensic auditing, tell him the reason he should inaugurate the governing board that the Senate had screened and confirmed.

“They should tell him about the illegality of sole administrator running the commission. The minister, Akpabio, cannot challenge the governors who are performing their rightful duty. They did not say the money should be paid to them, all they are saying is do not allow the 2020 budget of NDDC to be spent by Akpabio.

“Akpabio should, in fact, be removed from that Ministry and taking to another ministry, otherwise we will not see any progress in NDDC.

“Akpabio has no role in NDDC other than being a supervising ministry, but instead of that, he has made the NDDC his ministry and his ministry has become a parastatal under NDDC.

“He is spending more time on NDDC matters and to worsen the situation, he has now appointed one person, who though is very competent, a young man from Akwa Ibom, a lawyer and accountant, but I told him the other day when he visited me, this is a very good message sent to us, but the man who delivered the message acted very badly.

“You cannot, in a situation where you have three members of Interim Management Committee, IMC, remove two and put only one, and then you went to the National Assembly to lobby them to approve the 2020 budget of NDDC, which they earlier refused to approve.

“People are already wondering how long the forensic auditing will take place because today, there is an unholy alliance between some members of the National Assembly Committees on Niger Delta, who are the people looting money from NDDC. These were the people fighting him, now he is their friend.”

Akpabio not meddling in running of NDDC —Egbo

Media Adviser to the Interim Administrator/Chief Executive Officer, NDDC, Olorogun Jaro Egbo, in an interview with Vanguard, said, “Minister of the Niger-Delta Affairs is the supervisory minister of the NDDC, who has supervisory role but I assure you he does not partake in the day to day running  of the commission. The commission is saddled with huge debts and is presently doing its best to settle contractors who have completed their work for years.

“Now, payments are subjected to management approval. I am not aware that the minister has any role in who gets paid. There has been embargo on award of contracts, so it is really surprising that some uninformed minds believe that the minister is interfering the running of the commission outside his supervisory role

“No contract has been awarded by the interim administrator or the management team. The budget has just been released and the interim administrator insisted that any contract or project contained in the approved budget must pass through due process, which is that the project must be published for bids and only those qualified will be awarded projects. ”

On South-South governors, Egbo said,  “The Interim Administrator/CEO of NDDC, Mr Effiong Akwa believes that the South -South governors are strategic partners and stakeholders of NDDC, whose input and views must be sought in running of the commission.

“It was what informed his visits to consult and seek the opinion of the governors, so far, we have covered Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Delta and Imo states. Others will be visited in the coming weeks. In each of the visits, the Interim Administrator always took his time to explain the onerous task of repositioning the commission in proper footing.

“I want to appeal to our beloved South-South governors for understanding so that the forensic audit is completed before a new board takeover, so that the audit can be acted upon by the new board,” he said.

PANDEF sues for peace

Reacting, National Publicity Secretary, PANDEF, Ken Robinson said: “It is important to state that one of the greatest problems of the Niger Delta region is the non-cooperation among the political leaders in the region.

“In other parts of the country, like the North and West, their region comes first before politics. In the North, it is ethnicity and religion first before the party. In the West too, we see the same thing where governors come together with ministers and National Assembly members when it comes to the issues of the region, no matter their political differences.

“What PANDEF has continued to advocate is for them to work together. During the Presidential visit to all the regions, we saw pictures emanate from the North, South-East and South-West, everybody was there, no matter their party differences.

“But in the South-South, it was not so. The leaders of some political parties were conspicuously absent. This lack of cooperation is affecting development in the region.

“We are avoiding taking part in a side when governors, ministers and National Assembly members are at a crossroad. We only sue for peace. We want them to work together. There is no need to attack one another as governors, or ministers, or National Assembly members.

“We have the Deputy Senate President from the region, we have not seen him liaise with the governors. We have not seen ministers working with the governors to attract development to the region. That is what we want to see and not confrontations.

“PANDEF is calling on leaders of the region to come together and resolve our differences in the house instead of addressing them on the pages of newspapers.”

Govs spoke for the people — Ikponmwen

On his part, Ikponmwen said: “I totally agree with the governors that to avoid any abuse because the history of the NDDC has been replete with fraud and misapplication, there must be a board in place to be held accountable, not one- man sole administrator. The money should be put in an escrow account until a board is constituted by the president.

“Mr President has not inaugurated the governing board yet, what is right and proper is what should be done and what is right and proper as far as I am concerned must be looked at from the point of view of the people and from the point of view of accountable governance and administration. I do not think that it was contemplated that the NDDC will be run as a one- man business or a one-man affair, that will be a dictatorship, so the people have the right to speak on this matter, to say look, we want a board to be in place, which board will be constitutional and legal.”

Wrong for NDDC to operate without board—Ekpenyong

Also speaking, Senator Ekpenyong said: “The governors are leaders and shepherds of their respective states, therefore, they are supposed to air their views on anything that will benefit the people they serve. They are strong, critical stakeholders in the running of the affairs of the NDDC.

“All the governors of the nine states that make up Niger Delta can make demands towards the development of the NDDC. So, if in their wisdom they feel that the absence of a governing board for this long is affecting the running and proper management of the commission, there is nothing wrong with that.

“So, I expect the president to listen to them, he should take, recognise whatever demands they have made seriously because I believe they made such demands in the interest of the people of the region.

“In fact, for the president to allow the commission to be run without a governing board for more than one year now against the provision of the Act setting up the NDDC is worrisome. He is giving people the reason to believe that he is encouraging corruption which his administration is fighting against,” he added.

On Akpabio’s comment that governors were issuing orders to Buhari with their demand, he said, “Wherever Akpabio finds himself, he always acts like a god, so domineering. He should act as a representative of the people by working together with the governors, instead of insulting them. The statement he made was uncalled for because when he served as governor for eight years, he was part of what was happening in the NDDC.”

I see reason with govs, but.…  —Morris

Also, Niger Delta activist, Alagoa Morris, told Vanguard in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State: said: “If you check well, the reason behind the governors’ demand and the reaction of the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs are all pointing towards corruption; to prevent and to perpetuate. And it is very sad, especially when viewed from the fact that they are all Niger Deltans.

“But, while I see good reasons with the governors, they should also take responsibility for the endless forensic audit because they were responsible for the Nigerians appointed by Mr President and approved by the National Assembly as board members not to be on seat today. They should know that denying fellow citizens of deserved appointment is not fair.”

Vanguard News Nigeria

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