The negative media campaign against the yet-to-be inaugurated board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has been attributed to the fear of probe in the commission.
The oil and gas producing Host Communities of Nigeria (HOSTCON), which spoke in a statement yesterday, aligned with the decision of President Muhammadu Buhari to reposition the agency.
The statement, signed by HOSTCON’s National Director of Media and Publicity, Okakuro Whiskey, noted that the NDDC had failed in its assignment of taking development and good life to the region, hence the need to infuse fresh blood as represented by the Bernard Okumagba-led management.
It added that Okumagba’s nomination as managing director of the board was strategic and in order, noting that Okumagba would bring in the same thoroughness and prudence with which he straightened the economy and finances of Delta State as commissioner for Economic Planning Commissioner and Finance.
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The statement reads: “For those who see the NDDC as their personal estate, where they operate without questions, they are now afraid that the MD-ship of this well trained technocrat will expose a lot of their secrets. “A new sheriff is coming to town and all patriotic Niger Deltans who are not comfortable with the current state of things at the NDDC are watching. Let the truth be told, NDDC has not lived to its constitutional mandate and, therefore, the leadership of Host Communities of Nigeria (HOSTCON) will be glad to associate with President Muhammadu Buhari’s intentions to ensure that things are done properly at the commission.
“It is becoming clearer that those fighting the new NDDC Board appointments have something to hide, or there is something they have not told Nigerians. It is a well established fact that it is the turn of Delta State to produce the Managing Director.
“It is also a well known fact that the Urhobo in Delta Central, and by extension, their brothers of Delta South, are major producers of crude oil, and are blessed with huge natural gas resources, as can be seen from Oturogun Gas Plant in Ughelli South the second largest gas plant in Africa. If these verifiable facts are not disputed, then the question now is why this fight?”
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