Ijaw youths shut NDDC HQ in Rivers as protest over agency’s board spreads
The Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) has shut the headquarters of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in Port Harcourt, Rivers state.
Hundreds of the Ijaw youths stormed the NDDC premises on Thursday morning as they continued to protest the federal government’s failure to constitute the agency’s governing board.
The protesters blocked major roads leading to the office building and chanted solidarity songs.
They accused the Buhari administration of undue interference in failing to constitute the board.
Their protest follows the expiration of the one-month ultimatum which they had given to the federal government to constitute a governing board for the NDDC.
In April when they issued the ultimatum, Peter Igbifa, IYC president, had said: “Council will definitely shut down the entire region if Mr President fails to deliver on or before one month from today. This message must be taken very seriously. You can understand it is constitutional; when they constitute this board, it brings representation from different states.”
President Muhammadu Buhari had, in January 2019, ordered a forensic audit of the operations of the NDDC from 2001 to 2019.
He said what is on the ground in the Niger Delta does not justify the huge resources that have been made available to the commission.
The president subsequently appointed an interim committee to oversee the affairs of the commission, pending the conclusion of the agency’s audit.
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