Niger Delta youth have accused Heineken Lokpobiri, minister of state for agriculture and Timipre Sylva, former Bayelsa state governor, of plotting to remove the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) board.
Agbonkpolor Splendour, president of the youth group, described their move as an act of desperation.
The group gathered under the auspices of Youth Initiative for Education, Development and Empowerment of Niger Delta.
Splendour said Silva and Loikpobiri were making moves to convince President Muhammadu Buhari to dissolve the board by December.
He said the move was was not in line with the provision of the act setting up the commission, calling on Buhari to ignore all calls capable of balkanising the nation by vested interests.
“This has become pertinent in the face of obvious mischief, threat to the existing peace and quiet in the Niger Delta and deliberate red herring by the Minister of State for Agriculture, Hon Heineken Lokpobiri and former Governor of Bayelsa State, Mr Timipre Sylvia,” Splendour said.
“Let us make the point and strongly too, that argument is a wasteful attempt to unilaterally rewrite the enabling law that set up the commission. Even the section 5, sub-section 3 which they are relying on is irrelevant as it clearly applies to situations in which there is a substantive board in place and a vacancy or indeed a number of vacancies happen to occur therein.
“However, nowhere in this or any other section of the act is there even the slightest indication that such tenure completion is envisaged for the entire board or even that a new board might complete the tenure of a sacked on.
“If the duo were loyal party members and altruistic, they should have realised that the present NDDC Board did not meet any board members on ground, rather the one they succeeded was set up by the former administration of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government and was appropriately dissolved when the All Progressives Congress (APC) took over.
“So for any individual or group of individuals out of desperation continue to stoke the embers of conflict and pandering falsehood over the tenure of the present board of the NDDC is unhelpful and begs the question on the real issues of development in the region.
“Rather than for these persons to support the decision of President Buhari on NDDC board, they have decided to try to ridicule the President before right thinking Nigerians and make him look dishonourable in the eyes of right thinking Nigerians.
“This is not only embarrassing by utter disrespect for the high office of the President and all that it represents.
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