Irked by alleged lopsided appointment of management of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), an umbrella body of all the Oil Producing Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Imo State, Urashi Peoples’ Congress (UPC), has petitioned President Muhammadu Buhari.
The group appealed to President to reverse the trend, complaining since inception of the intervention agency, nobody in the State has been considered for appointment to key positions of Managing Director or Executive Director in the Commission.
In the letter to the President signed by National Coordinator of the group, Barrister Reginald O. Uwakwe (KSC), the community lamented appointment of the Managing Director of the Commission has been skewed in favor of only Rivers, Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa and Delta, out of the nine- member States.
The group maintained the development is a violation of Part IV of the Act establishing the NDDC and warned if the trend is left unattended to, it may threatening the operations and or truncate the activities of the Commission.
The letter reads: “The biased appointment, which has persisted since the Commission came into existence over the years, has assumed a critical and sensitive dimension of great concern that if left uncorrected is capable of threatening the operations and truncating the activities of the Commission.”
Highlighting alleged past beneficiaries of the lopsided appointments, the group noted: “However, the appointments into the key positions implicitly confirm that the position of Managing Director of the NDDC especially has been skewed in favor of only four states of Rivers, Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, and Delta states, out of the nine member states that made up the NDDC.
“For the records, between 2001 to 2021 the list of Managing Directors and their states include; Dr. Godwin Omene, Emmanuel Aguariavwodo, both from Delta state, Timi Alaibe, Bayelsa, Chibuzor Ugwuoha, Dr. Christian Oboh, both from Rivers, Nsima Ekere, Dan Abia, both from Akwa-Ibom, Nelson Brabaifa, Bayelsa, Joy Nunieh, Rivers, Kemebradikumo Ponder, Bayelsa, Okon Akwa, Akwa-Ibom state with Executive Directors of Finance/Administration and Project were also appointed from only these four states.
“Your Excellency, the crux of the matter is that this particular section of the Act has not been obeyed since the past 21 years the Commission came into existence because only four states of Akwa-Ibom, Rivers, Delta and Bayelsa, have benefitted from the management positions stipulated by the law because the authorities have continuously done this without any member of the other five states complaining.
“Essentially, a cursory look into subsequent appointments made, will further confirm that nobody from the South East States of Abia and Imo has been appointed into the management positions either as a Managing Director, or the other two Executive Directors previously,” the community lamented.”
Warning on the implication of the trend, the group wrote: “Your Excellency, the mood of we, South East members of the NDDC, caught up in this situation, is not only fast turning to frustration, helplessness, and despondency, but also that of anxiety borne out of the fear of a deliberate attempt to side-line the Igbo states in the NDDC from the mainstream scheme of activities in the Commission.
“Sir, it is also imperative to note that Ohaji/Egbema and Oguta Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Imo State have the highest gas deposit in the whole of West Africa, currently explored by Seplat Energy Plc, SPDC, ANOH Gas Processing Co. and these two LGAs in Imo Statehouse the highest number of Oil Wells and Flow Stations in Nigeria.
“We want to further bring to your notice that this issue has crystallized into a disturbing extent that requires your urgent intervention before it escalated into an intolerable, disturbing extent capable of disorganizing activities in the Niger Delta and derailing the successes the Commission has recorded so far.”
