TheCable

The Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) says it is “awful” for the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to be chaired by a sole administrator. 

On Thursday, President Muhamadu Buhari sacked Effiong Akwa, the sole administrator of the NDDC, and appointed Emmanuel Audu-Ohwavborua, a director in the Delta state office, as his replacement.

Akwa was appointed in December 2020 after Buhari removed Kemebradikumo Pondei, who was the then-acting managing director of the agency.

In a communique issued on Thursday, PANDEF said Akwa was the third interim head of the NDDC in a period of three years, adding that it is “awful” for the agency to be manned by a sole administrator instead of a governing body. 

“PANDEF notes that Mr Effiong Okon Akwa was the 3rd interim head of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in about three years; describes the situation as awful and hopes that the substantive management and governing board for the Commission will be constituted, in line with the NDDC Act, without further delay,” the communique reads.

On the flooding in the Niger Delta, PANDEF asked Buhari to visit the affected areas and direct relevant agencies to provide relief materials to the victims.

“PANDEF expresses great concern over the level of destruction reported, especially since more than 600 people have so far lost their lives in the ravaging floods,” the forum said.

“The disaster has also sacked millions from their homes and destroyed about three hundred thousand acres of farmland.

“Further states shock and sadness over the massive devastation in the States of the Niger Delta, especially, Bayelsa State, which is now totally submerged, as well as Delta and Rivers States, where several communities are under threat of extinction, and possible recovery will be prolonged and expensive.

“PANDEF empathises with other Nigerians, all over the country, who have lost loved ones and property due to the ravaging floods.

“PANDEF calls on President Muhammadu Buhari to visit Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers States, to assess the level of damage and destruction, as is normally done, all over the world.

“PANDEF further calls on the relevant agencies of the federal government as well as the international and indigenous oil companies, other corporate bodies and well-meaning individuals to come to the immediate aid of states affected by the flood, in the Niger Delta, to ameliorate their suffering.

“PANDEF particularly calls on the Federal Ministry of Works, the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA), NDDC, the military and other relevant agencies of the federal government to immediately initiate repair works on the collapsed portions of the East-West Road, which have resulted in the isolation of the entire Bayelsa State from the rest of the country.”

While restating its stance on the zoning of the presidency to the south, PANDEF said it would “in due course, make known to the public its preferred candidate amongst the presidential candidates of Southern Extraction, after formal interaction with them”.

The communique was signed by Edwin Clark, national leader; Emmanuel Ibok-Essien, national chairman; Bassey Henshaw, member, board of trustees (BoT); Dame Igbeyi, national woman leader; Denzil Kentebe, member, advisory council; and Ken Robinson, national publicity secretary.