The minority caucus in the House of Representatives has rejected the appointment of a sole administrator for the Niger Delta Development Commission, describing it as disservice to the people of the Niger Delta region.
The caucus called on the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), to “without further delay,” inaugurate a governing board for the NDDC as required by the Act establishing the commission.
Buhari had on Saturday named the acting Executive Director, Finance and Administration, of the NDDC as the commission’s interim administrator.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, in a statement titled ‘NDDC gets interim administrator,’ had attributed the development to what he called the plethora of litigation and a restraining order issued recently against the Interim Management Committee of the NDDC by a Federal High Court in Abuja.
The opposition lawmakers, in a statement issued on Sunday by the Minority Leader of the House, Ndudi Elumelu, however, described the appointment of a sole administrator for the NDDC “as a further pathway to deprive the people of the Niger Delta of the much desired infrastructural development in their area.”
In the statement titled ‘Reps Minority Caucus Rejects Sole Administrator For NDDC,’ the caucus stressed that “the recourse to a sole administrator instead of the governing board is ill-advised as it will promote corruption, alienate the people, trigger disagreements and worsen the managerial sleaze that is crippling the commission and impeding the development of the area.”
The lawmakers said, “The earlier resort to an Interim Management Committee and now a sole administrator, instead of a governing board, has heightened apprehensions in the region. This is not healthy, particularly given the strategic place the Niger Delta occupies in national economy and development.
“Our caucus, therefore, urges President Buhari to douse the tension by immediately inaugurating a governing board for the NDDC as provided for in the establishment Act, so that the people of the Niger Delta region can start enjoying the much-needed infrastructural development through a properly constituted commission.”
PUNCH