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Abuja Cartel Still Runs NDDC Despite Akpabio’s Exit, N’Delta Stakeholders Notify Buhari

Published

2 years ago

May 21, 2022

Stakeholders drawn from the Niger Delta, weekend, notified President Muhammadu Buhari that a powerful cabal in Abuja connected to the Presidency was still holding the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, by the balls, despite the resignation of Senator Godswill Akpabio as Minister of Niger-Delta Affairs.

Saddened by the forgoing, the stakeholders called on Buhari to stop the desperate cabal before it succeeds in its mission of ruining the agency and without much ado.

They urged him to hearken to the cry of the people to inaugurate the governing board of NDDC, screened and approved since 2019 by the Senate.

They explained further that the cabal have been undermining the oil region and suggested to President Buhari what should be done to give a kiss of life to the rudderless organization.

Speaking, National Publicity Secretary, Pan-Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, Hon. Ken Robinson, said: “We do not suppose that Akpabio was the main problem of NDDC.

“The primary problem is the callous indifference of the Buhari presidency to issues of the Niger Delta region. Under the supervision of Senator Godswill Akpabio as Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, NDDC was attenuated to a political porch with all manner of deplorable theatrics.

“The Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs in itself was virtually reduced to a bureau of NDDC, but Mr. President watched on like an uninterested spectator. We, therefore, do not expect any reasonable changes in the administration of the NDDC under this presidency despite the said resignation of Godswil Akpabio; let them prove us wrong.”

On his part, President, Ijaw National Congress, INC, Prof Benjamin Okaba, informed Buhari: “Set up /inaugurate the governing board according to the laws establishing the NDDC without further delay. Provide the needful to enable the new board function maximally.”

Also lending his voice to the call, Publisher of Environment Watch, Elder Braeyi Ekiye, said: “The ingenious contrivance to get the NDDC administered through the interim administration was a calculated attempt to advance the cause of power brokers in Abuja, whose main interest, together with their collaborators, is to rip the commission clean and dry of its financial allocations, so much so that, it has unfortunately stultified the region’s rapid socio-economic and infrastructural transformation.”

”It is our ardent hope that the on-going despicable ‘dance of the devil’ in the NDDC in wild celebration of the Forensic Audit Report put away in the coolers would stop forthwith, with the unceremonious departure of Senator Godswill Akpabio, lord of the estate of the Commission.

“As long as this masquerade dance lasts, the dark clouds of the dance shall continue to provide cover for the task masters and their comrades-in- arm to scoop remnants of fast depleting financial resources of the interventionist agency.”

Former national president, Ijaw Youth Council, IYC, Eric Omare, Esq., who raved on Akpabio, said: “We Niger Deltans based on verifiable facts strongly believed that Akpabio was responsible for the mismanagement of NDDC in the past three years. Now that he is out of the way, we expect President Buhari to immediately publish the outcome of the forensic audit, bring those who have embezzled.

“NDDC resources to book and as a matter of importance, inaugurate the board of the NDDC in line with its establishment Act. However, I doubt if this would done because the cabal members who have been with Akpabio I do not think are out of government. They may still be in the corridors of power and continue with the NDDC”, he said.

For Chairman, Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Warri branch, Chief Emmanuel Uti: “I do not subscribe to the notion that it was Senator Akpabio that frustrated the NDDC board. My opinion is that, it is President Buhari that was not keen on the existence of the board. My take is that Senator Akpabio out or not, it all depends on the President’s disposition.”

Constitutional lawyer, Dr. Akpor Mudiaga-Odje, intoned: “With or without Akpabio, what we, the pauperized people of the Niger Delta, earnestly yearn for is inauguration without any further delay, the board as duly cleared by the Senate in 2019, almost three years ago.”

Chairman, Centre for Environmental Preservation and Development, CEPAD, Surv. Furoebi Akene, said: “To start with, subjecting the supervision/overseeing of the NDDC to the Minister (Ministry) of Niger Delta Affairs is illegal and is a misnomer against the provisions of the NDDC establishment Act of 2000. The Act put the NDDC under the supervision by the presidency.”

Spokesman, Niger Delta Rights Advocates and All Progressives Congress chieftain in Rivers, Darlington Nwauju, said: “And as the appointer, President Buhari should immediately appoint substantive Ministers to that Ministry with a matching order to inaugurate a substantive board for the NDDC, publish the report of the forensic audit on NDDC and lastly, deliver on the East-West Road project.”

Chairman Board of Trustees, Centre for Human Rights and Anti-Corruption Crusade, CHURAC, Cleric Ebikonbowei Alaowei, Esq., said: “We pray that nothing should bring Akpabio back to that office again. Buhari should also immediately inaugurate the NDDC board if he means well for the development of the Niger Delta region. Mr. President should take immediate steps to investigate the commission for the periods Sen. Akpabio held it sway.”

On his part, President Ijaw Professionals Association (Homeland Chapter), which comprises Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers, Iniruo Wills, asserted: “The president and presidency cabal obviously do not give a hoot whether there is NDDC or it has a lawful management or not.

“The Niger Delta will remember this president as the one who set a notorious record of allowing NDDC to be under a series of illegal managements for four and a half years, which is more than the full four-year term prescribed even for a legitimate Governing Board by the enabling law.

”Obviously, the president does not have any lawyer around that can give him conscionable advice on the matter, so if he likes let him appoint a Pakistani as the next NDDC sole administrator. We are tired of complaining about this unprecedented executive callousness. At worst, in another one year we can say good riddance”, he added.

VANGUARD.

Related Topics:INC NDDC PANDEF Prof Okaba

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Best Airports In Africa For 2024 Named, Nigeria Missing [Full List]

Published

54 mins ago

April 19, 2024

Editor

Skytrax, a UK-based airline and airport review and ranking site has named Cape Town International Airport in South Africa as the best airport in Africa for 2024.

This came after Skytrax conducted a survey from August 2023 until March 2024, in which respondents are polled on a variety of areas, from check-in, arrivals, transfers, shopping, security and immigration, through to departure. Over 100 customer nationalities participated in the survey.

It was also stated that Cape Town airport has the ‘Best airport staff service in Africa’ while Durban King Shaka Airport, which came second, had an additional award for ‘Best regional airport in Africa’.

Johannesburg’s Tambo International Airport came third, while the Mohammed V International Airport serving Casablanca, Morocco, polled fourth.

At fifth place was Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport in Mauritius, with Morocco making another entry via Menara Airport in Marrakesh for sixth place.

Addis Ababa’s Bole International Airport, the hub of Ethiopian Airline, was ranked seventh, while the Kigali International Airport in Rwanda scooped the eight spot.

Cairo International Airport in Egypt took the ninth position while Kenya’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport had the tenth place.

See the full list below for the Best African Airports 2024:

Cape Town

Durban King Shaka

Johannesburg

Casablanca

Mauritius

Marrakech

Addis Ababa

Kigali

Cairo

Nairobi.

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UPDATED: Defence Chief, Nine Others Die In Kenya Military Helicopter Crash

Published

22 hours ago

April 18, 2024

Editor

A Kenyan military helicopter carrying top brass including the defence chief crashed on Thursday, police said.

President William Ruto convened an urgent meeting of the National Security Council, his office announced after news of the crash emerged.

Defence forces chief General Francis Omondi Ogolla was among those on board the helicopter that went down in Elgeyo Marakwet county, about 400 kilometres (250 miles) northwest of the capital Nairobi, a senior police officer told AFP.

“The helicopter burst into flames after crashing and it had more than 10 senior commanders on board including General Ogolla,” the officer said.

“They were in the area on a security mission because there are KDF (Kenya Defence Forces) soldiers deployed in the region,” he said.

Earlier, there was no report of official comment on casualties.

“President William Ruto has convened an urgent meeting of the National Security Council at State House Nairobi this evening following a Kenya Defence Forces’ helicopter crash this afternoon in Elgeyo-Marakwet County,” State House spokesman Hussein Mohamed said in a statement.

Ogolla, 61, was appointed Chief of the Defence Forces by Ruto in April last year after a stint as deputy.

Ruto told journalists last May that he appointed Ogolla despite him being among those who tried to overturn his narrow election win against opposition leader Raila Odinga in 2022.

“When I looked at his CV, he was the best person to be (a) general,” Ruto said, adding his decision went against the wishes of many people.

A trained fighter pilot, Ogolla joined the KDF in April 1984, rising through the ranks to command the Kenyan Air Force in 2018, a post he held for three years.

However, in a latest report, President Ruto said Ogolla and nine other senior military officers died in a helicopter crash on Thursday.

He added that only two survived the air accident.

“Today at 2:20 pm, our nation suffered a tragic air accident… I am deeply saddened to announce the passing on of General Francis Omondi Ogolla,” Ruto said.

AFP

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Heavy Floods in UAE, Afghanistan, Pakistan, 135 People Killed

Published

1 day ago

April 18, 2024

Editor

Around 70 people have been killed by heavy rains lashing Afghanistan over the past five days, the government’s disaster management department said on Wednesday.

Neighbouring Pakistan has also been hammered by spring downpours, with 65 people killed in storm-related incidents as rain falls at nearly twice the historical average rate, officials told AFP.

Dubai’s flagship Emirates airline cancelled all check-ins on Wednesday as staff and passengers struggled to arrive and leave, with access roads flooded and some metro services suspended.

Afghanistan was parched by an unusually dry winter that desiccated the earth, exacerbating flash-flooding caused by spring downpours in most provinces.

Disaster management spokesman Janan Sayeq said “approximately 70 people lost their lives” as a result of rains between Saturday and Wednesday.

Fifty-six others have been injured, he added while more than 2,600 houses have been damaged or destroyed and 95,000 acres of farmland wiped away.

Giving a smaller death toll last week, Sayeq said most fatalities at that point had been caused by roof collapses resulting from the deluges.

The United Nations last year warned that “Afghanistan is experiencing major swings in extreme weather conditions”.

After four decades of war, the country ranks among the nations least prepared to face extreme weather events, which scientists say are becoming more frequent and severe due to climate change.

At least 25 people were killed in a landslide after massive snowfall in eastern Afghanistan in February, while around 60 were killed in a three-week spate of precipitation ending in March.

In Pakistan, heavy downpours between Friday and Monday unleashed flash floods and caused houses to collapse, while lightning killed at least 28 people.

The largest death toll was in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where 32 people have died, including 15 children, and more than 1,300 homes have been damaged.

“All the casualties resulted from the collapse of walls and roofs,” the spokesman for the province’s disaster management authority, Anwar Khan, told AFP on Wednesday.

Dubai’s giant highways were clogged by flooding and airport passengers were urged to stay away on Wednesday as the glitzy financial centre reeled from record rains.

Huge tailbacks snaked along six-lane expressways after up to 254 millimetres of rain – about two years’ worth – fell on the desert United Arab Emirates on Tuesday.

At least one person was killed after a 70-year-old man was swept away in his car in Ras Al-Khaimah, one of the country’s seven emirates, police said.

Passengers were warned not to come to Dubai Airport, the world’s busiest by international traffic, “unless absolutely necessary,” an official said.

“Flights continue to be delayed and diverted… We are working hard to recover operations as quickly as possible in very challenging conditions,” a Dubai Airports spokesperson said.

Climatologist Friederike Otto, a specialist in assessing the role of climate change on extreme weather events, told AFP it was “highly likely” that global warming had worsened the storms.