Leaders of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the Ukwa East/Ukwa West federal constituency have hailed the decision of President Muhammadu Buhari to recompose the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
The President had, in a press release signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina last week, approved that the Board of the NDDC be recomposed and inaugurated after the forensic audit of the organisation. He also directed that the Interim Management Team of the NDDC shall be in place till the forensic exercise is completed and that the Commission shall remain under the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs.
The leaders, who spoke to our correspondent, were full of commendations for President Buhari for revisiting the critical issues that have surrounded the composition of the NDDC board, particularly the nomination of a person who was involved in various anti-party activities to represent Abia State on the board of the Commission.
They were of the view that for NDDC to live up to its mission, nomination of members into its board should have the input and recommendations of APC leaders from the oil producing areas, noting that the recent report by the Interim Management Team of the Niger Delta Development Commission showed that only twenty percent of the projects awarded by the Commission, recently, went to the oil producing areas of the state.
The House of Assembly candidate for Ukwa West of Abia State on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the 2019 general elections, Mr. Daberechukwu Ihenko described the decision of the Presidency to recompose the NDDC board as a balm that would heal the wounds inflicted on the party when Nwogu Nwogu made the former list of board members for the Commission.
He stated that it was worrisome that the report released by the current management team of the NDDC revealed that the oil producing areas got only twenty percent of the projects awarded to Abia State by the Commission in the last four years, adding that such injustice needed to be addressed urgently.
Ihenko appealed to Mr President to restore the confidence of party faithfuls in Ukwa by ensuring that Nwogu is not re-nominated for the NDDC board, adding that the singular act would dissuade other APC members from engaging in anti-party activities.
According to Chief William Nwanguma, one of the leaders of APC in Ukwa East, it was heart-warming to learn that the President had decided to listen to the various appeals made by the APC in Ukwa for the rejection of Nwogu Nwogu as the representative of Abia State on the NDDC board, stressing that members of the party in the area became disillusioned when they heard Nwogu’s name who they know worked at against the interest of the party before, during and after the last general elections.
He stated that it would be good for authentic APC leaders in Ukwa to be carried along in the nomination of an NDDC board member since Ukwa West is the only oil producing area in Abia State, pointing out that the abysmal performance of the NDDC was largely due to the fact that previous nominations into its board were influenced by people from outside the Ukwa, resulting in the massive corruption being witnessed in the Commission.
In her own reaction, Ukwa West APC women leader, Mrs Odochi Onuegbu said it was regrettable that the NDDC that have been in existence for more than twenty years have not improved ameliorated the sufferings of women in the area, as they toil daily to meet up with the high cost of sending their children to private schools since the public schools are in deplorable conditions.
She lauded President Buhari for initiating a forensic audit of the NDDC operations and hoped the auditors would do a thorough job so as to expose all those that have connived to destroy the fortunes of the Niger Delta region.
Mrs Onuegbu, who noted that some projects that were started by the Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC) that was rechristened NDDC in the year 2000 have not been completed till date, expressed optimism that if the people of Ukwa are involved in the selection of Abia representatives for the NDDC board, the marginalisation of the oil producing area would reduce to the barest minimum.
She emphasized that the previous lack of the input of critical stakeholders in Ukwa on matters concerning the NDDC board nomination had enthroned the absence of ownership spirit in the NDDC project.
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