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By John Amaowoh
Front-line pressure groups, Patriotic Forum of Niger Delta (PAFOND) and the Niger Delta Indigenous People Network (NDIPN), have called on members of the National Assembly “to stop being selective in their probe and allow a smooth running of the forensic audit of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), by President Muhammadu Buhari, in the interest of the region.”
Rising from a meeting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, the groups said “what the National Assembly is doing is a distraction in the name of a probe to shield some personalities from being probed.”
The body in its communiqué signed by PAFOND’s national chairman, Owoh Udoh, and national coordinator (NDIPN), Daniel Wilson, issued at the end of the meeting described the probe of activities in NDDC as selective, querying “How can they focus on probing only N81 billion, and the Interim Management Committee, which is just 5 months in office, and left over 5 trillion that had been embezzled by some personalities from the region over 19 years with abandoned projects littered over the region.”
The groups stressed that members of the IMC had leveled several allegations against some personalities from the region, but wondered why the National Assembly refused to probe them the way they probed the interim Management Committee.
The statement called on President Muhammadu Buhari to ignore the advice of those seeking the removal of the commission from the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs to the presidency, adding that the commission will make a meaningful impact under the supervision of the ministry.
“Let me tell you that with our findings, we have seen that the NDDC headquarters that was abandoned for about 20 years ago is now 90% percent completion under few months of Sen. Godswill Akpabio’s supervision with the Interim Management Committee”
The body asserted that the corruption and looting of the commission was when it was under the presidency, because the presidency was overburdened with many issues and could not give adequate supervision to the commission.
The forum however appealed to Niger Deltas and stakeholders from the region, especially the youths to give the minister, Sen. Godswill Akpabio, needed support to actualize his development plans for the region and the future generation.
“It is time to avoid being distracted by the antics of those who want to do everything possible to frustrate the good intention of the minister and the president” the forum said.
