The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

  • APC clears more aspirants for Kogi primary

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) National Working Committee (NWC) has cleared six more aspirants to contest the party’s governorship primary scheduled for tomorrow in Lokoja.

    This brings to ten, the number of aspirants out of the 16 that purchased nomination forms, who will contest the election.

    It also approved the disqualification of six others.

    The immediate past Resident Electoral Commissioner for Cross River State, Frankland Briyal was disqualified for Bayelsa State governorship primary, saying it could not find evidence of his membership of the party, having joined less than one month to the primary.

    Those disqualified in Kogi the two sons of late Prince Abubakar Audu – Mustapha and Mohammed Abubakar Audu; Prof. Mohammed Seidu Onaili, Usman Oyibe Jibrin, Mustapha Mona Audu, Rukkaya Ibrahim, Gen. Patrick Adenu Akpa, Muhammed Abubakar Unukwu Audu.

    The screening committee headed by Senator Hope Uzodinma had disqualified 12 of the 16 aspirants for not meeting some of the requirements spelt out in the guidelines.

    Those, who will now contest the party’s ticket, are Governor Yahaya Bello, Babatunde Irukera, Hadiza Iyoma Ibrahim, Yahaya Odidi Audu, Sani Lulu Abdullahi, Abubakar Bashir, Danlami Umar Mohammed, Yakubu Mohammed, Hassan Abdullahi and Ekele Aishat Blessing.

    APC National Publicity Secretary Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu said in a statement that the party relied on the provisions of its guidelines and the electoral act in arriving at a final decision.The National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has cleared a governorship aspirant, Babatunde Ayo Kunle Irukera to contest the Party’s Kogi governorship primaries.

    Read Also: Protesters block APC secretariat, demand explanation for Irukera’s disqualification

    Ironically, Irukera, who was initially listed among those who were disqualified, was announced late yesterday that he successfully met the conditions provided by the party’s guidelines for the nomination of candidates within the time granted to clarify his claims.

    Issa-Onilu’s statement reads: “The APC National Working Committee has deliberated on the reports of the screening and appeal committees for the party’s Kogi governorship aspirants.

    “After a comprehensive review of the submissions by the two committees, relying on the party’s guidelines and the provisions of the Electoral Act, nine aspirants were finally cleared to contest the August 29, 2019 Indirect Governorship primary. Seven other aspirants did not meet the requirements for participation in the exercise.”

    On Bayelsa, Onilu said the NWC upheld the reports of the screening and appeal committees, clearing six of the seven aspirants that bought nomination forms.

    He said: “Of the total seven governorship aspirants that were screened, six were cleared to participate in the governorship primary. They are: Mr. Aganaba Preye Steven, Sen. Heineken Lokpobiri, Prince Ebitimi Christopher Amgbare, Ms Diseye Nsirim Poweigha, Mr. Lyon David Pereworimini and Engr. Prof (Mrs.) Ongoebi Maureen Etebu.

    “Dr. Briyai Oyeins Frankland was not cleared to participate in the party’s governorship primary.

    “The APC NWC upheld the disqualification of Frankland based on Section 3 Paragraph “L” of the party’s guidelines for the nomination of candidates, which requires that aspirants are card-carrying members of the party for a period of one year.

    “The party also found no record of his membership of APC and was therefore considered ineligible.”

    But, a group of protesters on the platform of Kogi Mandate Group, yesterday evening, blocked entrance to the APC national secretariat, demanding explanation why Irukera was not initially cleared to contest the primary.

    The group alleged that the party’s NWC deliberately omitted the name of Irukera from the list of cleared aspirants even after the Appeals Committee set up by the party had cleared him for the contest.

    Irukera was disqualified by the Screening Committee for invalid declaration of age, not attaching his academic credentials and supporting documents and for his nomination form not duly signed.

    But a copy of the appeal committee’s report sighted by The Nation claimed that they found no evidence to support the claim by the screening committee after listening to oral submission by Irukera and therefore cleared him for the primary.

    However, the group accused the Comrade Adams Oshiomhole-led NWC of the party of deliberately shutting out Irukera to pave way for Bello to emerge unopposed at the primary billed to hold in Lokoja today.

    Spokesperson for the group, Amos Alfa, expressed surprise that the party went ahead to disqualify Irukera in spite the fact that he was cleared by the screening committee of the party.

  • Party holds primary today in Lokoja

    Kogi State All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirants, Princess Hadiza Ibrahim and Yakubu Mohammed, on Wednesday called for free and fair primary.

    The two contenders, who hail from Igala ethnic group, hailed the Appeal Committee for cancelling their disqualification by the Screening Panel chaired by Senator Hope Uzodinma.

    Hajia Ibrahim, who spoke on phone, said having been given the nod to contest, “there is no retreat and there is no surrender”.

    She frowned at the earlier verdict of the screening committee, saying that Uzodinma was behaving as Governor Yahaya Bello’s campaign manager.

    Hadiza said: “I was disqualified. But, the Appeal Committee disagreed with the screening committee on the grounds for disqualification. I was disqualified along with 12 aspirants because they said I did not contribute financially to the party.

    Read Also: APC clears more aspirants for Kogi primary, upholds ex-Cross River REC disqualification

    “I disagreed. I asked them: do contributions expire? I gave evidence of my contributions. I showed to them my 2015 screening certificate. I am a product of the University of Lagos. I am a successful businessman.  The Appeal Committee agreed.”

    She added: “I will emerge winner. I think there will be a peaceful primary. Security will be provided. The Screening Committee, led by Uzodinma did not do well. He was using the committee to campaign for Bello, out of sympathy.”

    Also, supporters of Mohammed, veteran journalist and aspirant from Igala, said power should shift to Kogi East.

    In a statement, he said the push for power shift was premised on the need for equity and justice.

    The statement reads: “The Chief Judge, Nasir Ajanah is from Kogi Central. The Speaker of Kogi State House of Assembly, Mr. Matthew Kolawole, is from Kogi West. Governor Yahaya Bello is from Kogi Central. The minister from Kogi State, Mrs. Ramatu Tijjani is from Kogi West. There is no one from Kogi East occupying any of those positions.

    “As it stands, any party that fields a candidate from Kogi East (Igala land) will be the favorite to win the election because of the numerical strength of the district.”

    A source said the outcome of the APC primary may be an important factor during the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) primary.

    A political analyst, Enejo Shuaibu, said: “Bello did not do well in his first term. The issue of owing salaries and making the state uncomfortable for anyone who opposes him are his major obstacles.”

  • Exco: We’ll put round pegs in round holes, says AbdulRazaq

    Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has said that his yet-to-be-constituted exco will be made up of round pegs in round holes.

    AbdulRazaq added that his over three-month-old administration, unlike in the past, has been accused of not spreading political patronages.

    The governor spoke on Tuesday in Ilorin, the state capital, at a dinner/investiture night of the Ilorin District of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN).

    The governor, who was represented by his deputy, Kayode Alabi, said: “I assure you that professionals would be well-represented in our cabinet. We will ensure we put round pegs in round holes, even as we operate an open-door policy that welcomes quality suggestions from reputable professional bodies like the ICAN.

    Read Also: Kwara’s health system is on intensive care, says AbdulRazaq

    “The last three months have been very interesting for us as an administration. Many of you must have heard whispers of my administration being very frugal with public resources. We have been accused of not spreading patronages like in the past. I can tell you that those whispers were very true.

    “We promised so much. We inherited nearly a red account and a debt profile not commensurate with the infrastructure on the ground. But that is now in the past. What that means is that we need a great measure of financial prudence and discipline to pull through.

    “We are therefore faced with the option of using the little resources to serve the overwhelming majority of our people or dole out patronages to the privileged minority. We chose the former and that explains the pace with which we are stabilising things in the areas of provision of water, healthcare, road rehabilitation, pensions and gratuities, education and basic facilities.”

  • Ex-APC aspirant greets ministers

    A former National Chairmanship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Ibrahim Emokpaire, has greeted the ministers.

    Emokpaire, who spoke on behalf of the Progressives Solidarity Forum (PSF), congratulated the Federal Executive Council (FEC) “for effectively taking off with the mandate to take the country to higher pedestals in the next four years.

    The party chieftain praised the APC leadership at all levels, especially the National Leader Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and the National Chairman Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, for their support to the President which made him discharge this onerous responsibility in a seamless manner.

    Read Also: Take Nigerians out of poverty, APC tell new Ministers

    He said: “I wish to remind members of the Next Level Cabinet that Nigerians have high hopes in their capacity to find pragmatic and sustainable solutions to the challenges confronting the country. Nigerians eagerly desire to see reinvigorated and concerted efforts by the executive towards achieving improved security of lives and property, improved economy and the attendant standard of living, as well as a sustained fight against corruption, all of which constitute the cardinal agenda of the President..”

    “Without a doubt, delivering good governance towards building a united, well-secured, corruption-free, economically strong and politically stable nation is a huge responsibility.

    “It is my hope and prayer that the new Federal Executive Council (FEC) will live up to expectations, deliver on its mandate and leave behind a great legacy of selfless service.”

  • BPE hails APMT as investment hits N126b

    The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) has expressed satisfaction with the level of compliance with the post-acquisition plan by APM Terminals (APMT) and other terminal operators at the Lagos Port Complex, Apapa.

    APM Terminals Apapa, which took over the concession at Lagos’ Apapa Container Terminal in 2006, has invested $350 million to date to develop infrastructure, acquire sophisticated cargo handling equipment, modernisation of the terminal, IT hardware and software systems, and additional capacity. The investment has resulted in significant improvements in productivity, with zero waiting time for vessel berthing and a doubling of container volume.

    Read Also: Aviation professionals restate opposition to concession of airports

    BPE’s Director in charge of Post Privatisation Department Mr. Yusuf Adamu, after monitoring activities of terminal operators at the Port Complex recently, said the investments and revenue contribution by the port concessionaires to government in the last 13 years has been massive.

    He said: “Before the concession, this place was like a market, with uncontrolled movements of people leading to rampant thievery. Some of the quay areas you see now were taken up as residential places until after the concession.

    “You can see the level of investments and expansion made by the concessionaires, millions of dollars, and these facilities will eventually revert to government at the end of the agreed period. This is outside their regular throughput and annual lease fees, which they have never defaulted since takeover in 2006, which is in millions of dollars…”

  • Bayelsa APC primary shifted till Saturday

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has shifted its primary election in Bayelsa State to Saturday. The election was scheduled for today.

    This was contained in a letter by National Chairman Adams Oshiomhole and Acting National Secretary Victor Giadom to the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu.

    The letter said the shift was caused by planning and logistic reasons.

    It reads: “We wish to advise that due to planning and logistic reasons, we have rescheduled… our primary election in respect of the Bayelsa State governorship election to… Saturday, August 31…”

    The letter was silent on the stormy issue of whether the party would adopt direct or indirect primaries.

    Party leaders and aspirants are divided, with some pushing for direct and others insisting on indirect.

    Read Also: Bayelsa poll: Who gets APC ticket?

    A Bayelsa State High Court in Sagbama ordered the National Working Committee (NWC) to stop adoption of direct primaries.

    It was gathered that the order obtained by aggrieved members of APC restrained the NWC from going ahead with Saturday’s primary using the direct mode.

    The applicants are Japan Christopher, Evinson Olotu, Oddu Oyimiebi and Obriki Isaiah. The first respondents are Adams Oshiomhole and some NWC members, while the second respondents are Jonathan Amos and State Working Committee members are second respondents.

    The applicants prayed for an order “abridging the time for which the respondents may enter appearance and file their …counter affidavits and written addresses …”

    They also prayed for an “interim injunction restraining the first respondents from adopting the direct primaries … pending the hearing and determination of the …summons.”

    Justice E.G. Umukoro ruled that the enrolled order of the court be served with hearing notices to respondents within 48 hours.

  • Udom: I didn’t bribe judge

    Akwa Ibom State Governor Udom Emmanuel has denied allegations he bribed the tribunal Chairman, Justice W.O. Akanbi, to influence judgment in favour of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for Akwa Ibom Northwest senatorial, Chris Ekpenyong.

    Senator Godswill Akpabio of the All Progressives Congress (APC), now Niger Delta Affairs minister, is challenging Ekpenyong’s victory.

    Emmanuel’s denial followed an allegation by Leo gave $1.4 million to Justice Akanbi to secure justice for PDP.

    Ekpenyong, in an interview, accused the governor of trying to subvert justice in favour of Chris Ekpenyong and PDP.

    Read Also: Akwa Ibom Assembly confirms 19 Commissioner, 2 Special Adviser nominees

    He said: “Justice W. O. Akanbi, who many thought was a righteous judge …$1.5 million from Governor Udom Emmanuel and has recruited another judge to join in the justice-for-sale scam.

    “Akanbi has clearly jettisoned justice in preference for Udom’s Greek gift, since, according to him, he (Akanbi) has only two years to retire.”

    But Governor Emmanuel, through his Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Uwemedimo Nwoko, false, and asked Ekpenyong to substantiate his allegation with fact or face legal action.

    He said: “We state without …that there is …no  truth in Leo Ekpenyong’s …allegation. Governor Udom Emmanuel does not know and has never met with Justice Akanbi or any other judge in the panel…

    “It is… most uncharitable …for Leo Ekpenyong … to attempt … to disrepute the sterling reputation of…Emmanuel.”

    Nwoko, who described Ekpenyong, as “a serial blackmailer”, recalled that he had in time past blackmail Senator Akpabio, to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices (and other related offences) Commission (ICPC), adding that “Akpabio succumb to his blackmail and paid him handsomely.”

    Nwoko said Ekpenyong should produce evidence within seven days and publish same in three newspapers or face the full weight of his action in the court.a

  • Fair riposte or plain toxicity?

    The Atiku Media Office’s reaction to a story in The Nation, over the probe of a N50 million “donation” to the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), speaks of nothing but toxic politics.

    To start with, what is OOPL without controversial “donations”?  The library — First in Africa! — came to life by “donations”, to the cause of a sitting president and Oil minister; who sat not unlike Big Brother that watched all, as states, oil aristocrats and blooming flowers of the economy, out-did themselves to “donate”.  And don’t you ever think those “donations” were not free and democratic!

    Now, it’s another “donation”, to the same OOPL, on the virtual eve of a major election.  Now, the Atiku Media Office claimed that particular donation, of $140, 000 (changed to N50 million) was to the not-for-profit OOPL, which funded research to promote peace; and whose chief promoter, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, had developed himself, after a stint as military Head of State, writing books and midwifing local and international seminars for peace, progress and development — applause, applause!

    But it so happened that one of those books, My Watch, had dismissed Alhaji Abubakar Atiku — and in unprintable words to boot! — as perhaps the most undesirable scoundrel to have gained public office as Obasanjo’s Vice President from 1999 to 2007.  For all of these, Atiku never sued for libel, to defend his honour.

    But then, came the 2019 elections, and Atiku the Devil suddenly became Obasanjo’s newly minted Atiku the Immaculate — and viola, a N50 million “donation” made it to the till of OOPL!

    Well, the EFCC alleges it was hush-hush slush money to illicitly skew the outcome of the election.  But Atiku Media has come out to say it was a “donation”, facilitated by an Atiku in-law, who definitely is no outlaw, by his legitimate “donation” — fair enough!

    In any case, it is ongoing investigation and it’s Atiku Media Office’s words again EFCC’s.  Let each party bring out its facts; and let the pubic decide who is true and earnest.

    Still, the Atiku camp appears to have dire problem with a newspaper breaking legitimate news, simply because it has some problems with the optics of that news.

    It lashes out in blind hysteria, not unlike a trapped Samson, after its Philistine traducers: “May we also add that whenever the EFCC wish to come up with mischief, they fly their kite in The Nation.  That is now a pattern.  It should be clear to Nigerians that the Presidency, APC, the EFCC, the FIRS and The Nation are now working together as five fingers of the same leprous hands.”

    Nice try!  — Except that it sounds like the impassioned piece of an infantile propagandist, crunching plagiarism that everyone knows (God bless the late Bola Ige!) and expecting everyone to applaud its crude and callow show!

    Still, neither bad grace nor vulgar abuse should stall a rather interesting development in the gripping Obasanjo-Atiku continuum, of hated foes turned doting lovers, in the most dramatic of settings!

    On the contrary, this crude piece of communication only underscores what appears a disturbing toxicity in Atiku’s politics.  Yet, what it needs to project, at least among right thinking and decent citizens, is fair riposte, rendered in polite and cultured thinking and language. But alas!

    Still, it is good The Nation published the Atiku reaction.  After all, as the Bible says: by their words, we shall know them!

  • ‘Woke’ youth mustn’t snooze

    The cult of digital citizenship has a supreme theme: that of the ‘digitally-woke,’ youth. Social media, expanded to fill the space life provides, substitutes Nigeria’s bleak moon for a digitized dawn.

    Call it science’s dark revenge or technology’s defiant stand against conservative norms. In the mix, Nigeria incinerates by the speed of blistering terrabytes; two planes of reality collide a la traditional versus new media; conservative ethicist versus deviant liberal, erupting in primeval chaos, cyber-activated.

    The intelligible persistently loses to the unintelligible and citizenship gets redefined as digitally-woke youth vengefully debase and defy society’s arrogant hierarchs.

    The digitally-woke youth is technology’s heroic personae and his cult runs where dissent rebounds. He has a fearless disposition but is afflicted by dewy cowardice. In the cyberspace he inhabits, he personifies spirited narcissism, unfurling wildly to his articulated and unarticulated sinful lusts.

    Yet the joke persists in contemporary circuits that the battle for Nigeria’s freedom would be fought and won in social space and by the cudgels and blades of ‘woke’ youth. This notion sprouts from ideological fields at home and abroad, where pasture, copse and tributary of thought, flourish from sickly seeds of violence and death.

    Being ‘woke’ is next to being a deity in contemporary youth circuits. It confers on the ‘woke’ a colossal ego, an exaggerated sense of awareness and idolatry of fawning peer. To such youth, social media becomes theatre, a public agon. Every issue from policy failure, inefficient leadership, distressed economy, electoral fraud, insecurity, to failing public institutions offers him an opportunity to vent.

    Unlike the conventional patriot for whom protest functions as a catalyst for positive change, the digitally-woke youth protests for ego and applause.

    In his element, he courts the admiration of the strolling spectator; he forgets that he is neither king nor god but manipulable pawn. He is victim of ignorance’s tyranny over intellect thus his susceptibility to being used by shady, criminally-minded others.

    He is arsonist, assassin and mugger at election time; and canon-fodder for disrupting the state, in time of peace. He is the random cyber-rat with multiple monikers, preaching bigotries and a gospel of hate across multiple social media platforms and news sites as you read.

    Beneath his radical chants, however, subsists an immoderate hankering for money and safety. Some would call this cowardice and a predilection for slumber. But he is ‘woke’ and ‘woke’ youth musn’t snooze.

    Money, fast cars, dubious acclaim are, however, a deal breaker hence the morbid race against time to acquire wealth by ‘woke’ young assassins, internet scammers (Yahoo Boys), and prostitutes. Lest we forget the gangs of ‘woke’ political thugs, human rights activists, ‘youth leaders,’ public officers, pen robbers, armed robbers and thieves comprising the nation’s youth.

    Due to perceived trashiness and philosophical harlotry of the journalist, this band of youths would not leave the battle for their freedom from Nigeria’s predatory ruling class to the press.

    Cowardice is what we should conquer. Cowardice enslaves all to mean and homicidal politicians. It cripples the rage of impoverished youth and binds all to the wiles of dubious political parties and public officers.

    It takes courage to evolve a humane ideology and sustain it. As Nigerians, in our youth, we haven’t the courage and the will, and this interferes with our ability to accomplish progressive change.

    More worrisome are our violent attempt to be radical; eventually they resonate too feebly, like a kind of rudderless activism. This was reflective in the attitude of certain youth segments during the last general elections.

    Mistaking hooliganism for “higher political awareness” or “being woke,” they harassed their peers and the elderly who voted for President Muhammadu Buhari, among others.

    They frantically sought for votes for their self-styled messiahs, whose unique selling point (USP) was an exaggerated sense of self-worth. Extravagant sections of the press called the latter, titans. But they were no titans. They were simply merchants of rot, who emerged to clothe dross as gold and filth in newer, fanciful packs.

    Leading a motley pack of rabid followers, they condemned the incumbent ruling class to frantic applause. But soon after they spoke in brilliant, rousing cadences, their platitudes started to trail off in confusion.

    Today, their language echoes like the battle-cries of four-year-olds playing war Generals against an army of hostile corn stalks. Having provoked the citizenry’s dormant passion with deceptive dialectics, as the election wore on, their passion was shown for what it was, the spunk of beetles kindling wet wood.

    Most youth candidates failed to shine at the last general elections because their gospel of hope was untranslatable by realistic yardsticks. They spoke the same gibberish as the oligarchs they sought to unseat.

    Ultimately, they brought nothing new to the table, save a slew of platitudes and tiresome rhetoric. For instance, some dizzy candidate promised to turn marijuana into a national revenue earner and establish a N100, 000 national minimum wage package for the country in a manner reminiscent of the prominent parties’ lifeboat solutions.

    Another promised to rescue the Chibok girls, eradicate terrorism and entrench gender equality without a practical blueprint for achieving such.

    Eventually, their desperate rants and promises established them as dangerous daydreamers, who could and would rip apart a nation already fragmented and ruined by bigotries, maladministration and plunder.

    Such is the quality of the Nigerian youth – the ‘politically woke” and most vocal segment to be precise. They identify all that is wrong with Nigeria but they are never specific about what must be done to correct them.

    It is relatively easy to join a picket line and tirelessly castigate our elders and ruling class for everything that is wrong with our lives but these actions, while they demonstrate frustration, and in some instances, even heroism, deal generally with symptoms of· our problems and not the solutions.

    All the picket lines in the world will not resolve maladies of fraudulent and impatient youth, greed, racism, disillusionment with learning and substandard education.

    Yeah, bad news is in the air. We worry and gripe about it. Bloggers and columnists rant about it. We have even learnt to joke about it. But it’s time we do something about it.

    It takes so much effort to be cynical and vengeful, let us channel such efforts into more profitable enterprise, like visionary politics, honest labour and reorientation.

    It’s about time we projected more progressive views of our world. Let us begin to seek the upright amongst us. They are the negligible few we love to haze and deride for being too ‘conservative,’ ‘boring’ and ‘pretentious.’

    They believe in justice, equality and the rule of law. They are pious without being self-righteous. They are responsible, tolerant, and in many ways, more evolved.

    We need such breed of youth to drive a practicable and all-inclusive plan; a proposal of shared targets and intentions with broadbased support and the moral and political will to implement its mechanisms and ends with profound understanding of law, governance methods, economics and social organisation of humane statehood.

    Without these, we will continue to flounder in the sea of well-meaning but ineffective good intentions.

    These are dark days for the Nigerian youth. We are going through a particularly unpleasant form of hell but it’s a hell that we have made for ourselves.

  • Governors to meet as mixed reactions trail NDDC board

    Southsouth governors have summoned an emergency meeting over the members-designate of the Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) made public on Tuesday by the Presidency.

    Former Edo State Deputy Governor Pius Odubu is the chairman of the new board whose name has been sent to the Senate for confirmation.

    Other members are: Prophet Jones Erue (Delta); Edo Rep – Chief Victor Ekhatar (Edo); Rivers Rep – Dr. Joy Yimebe Nunieh (Rivers); Abia Rep – Nwogu Nwogu (Abia) and Bayelsa Rep – Theodore A. Allison (Bayelsa).

    Others are: Akwa Ibom Rep – Victor Antai (Akwa Ibom); Cross River Rep – Maurice Effiwatt (Cross River); Ondo Rep -Olugbenga Elema (Ondo); Imo Rep – Uchegbu Chidiebere Kyrian (Imo); Northwest Rep – Aisha Murtala Muhammed (Kano); Northeast Rep – Ardo Zubairu (Adamawa) and Southwest Rep – Badmus Mutalib (Lagos).

    Mixed reactions by Niger Delta stakeholders yesterday trailed the composition of the board.

    Following the dissolution of the former board headed by Prof. Nelson Brambaifa, a university don from Bayelsa State, Dr. Bernard Okumagba from Delta State, was named as Acting Managing Director.

    While governors of Niger Delta states expressed reservations, other stakeholders, including Uhrobo and Ijaw youths, hailed President Muhammdu Buhari for taking a wise decision.

    A source close to the governors said they had scheduled an emergency meeting for today to discuss the composition, adding that their grouse was that President Buhari did not consult them.

    According to the source, the new board was “hurriedly put together” without the governors’ input.

    Read Also: Joint account: Governors opt for legal battle with NFIU

    He added: “As governors of the Niger Delta states, the law setting up the NDDC provides that they should be consulted on the composition of the NDDC Board.

    “When I spoke to other governors from the region, they said the same thing. We are embarrassed that merit was thrown to the wind in the selection of persons that were appointed to the Board.

    “”Politics was the only consideration used in selecting members of the new Board and this runs contrary to the provisions of the NDDC Law.

    Isoko and Ndokwa leaders in Delta State, who rejected the composition of the board, vent their anger on President Buhari and Deputy Senate President Ovie Omo-Agege, stressing that the appointments violated the principles of inclusiveness.

    Noting that two Delta State indigenes-Okumagba, an Urhobo, and Prophet Erue Jones, an Isoko-are on the new board, they maintained that Ndokwa was marginalised.

    The paramount ruler of Seimbiri Kingdom and former President of Traditional Ruler of Oil-Producing Communities, Pere Charles Ayemi-Botu; President, Isoko Monitoring Group, Comrade Sabestine Agbefe, and the Vice President General, Ndokwa Neku Union, Chief Tony Uti, said the appointments were in bad faith.

    Pere Botu, who complained that Delta State was not given the board chairman, said the appointments violated the rotational principle.

    He added: “By the law setting up NDDC, the Chairman is supposed to be for Delta State. The Chairman rotates in alphabetic order among all the states. First was Abia, then Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, and Cross River. Now that it is supposed to be for Delta State, it has gone to Edo.”

    The monarch added: “The President doesn’t have listening ears. So, I don’t expect any change from him. But, the fact is that letter ‘D’ comes before ‘E.’ So, Delta state should have got the chairmanship. This is very sad and a bad precedent.”

    A lawyer and leader of Ndokwa nation, Chief Henry Uti, said: “I am very disappointment with the Federal Government because it has failed to uphold the policy of he who gives, receives.”

    He added: “For over 60 years, Agip has been operating in our land. Except for Professor Eric Opiah, who is a former Chairman of OMPADEC, Ndokwa nation has not had any appointment in any agency for the development of oil communities.”

    Uti said: “The appointments are very unfair, to say the least. It is unfair for the Urhobo to produce the Managing Director of the NDDC for a second time when other ethnic groups are yet to get any position, just because the Deputy Senate President is an Urhobo.

    “Giving the Commissioner to Isoko is also unfair to the Ndokwa. Ndokwa deserves the position. Isoko deserves the MD because Urhobo and Itsekiri have had executive positions as MD, Executive Director, Project.”

    “Ijaws have been Executive Directors, Finance and Administration, and Itsekiri have been EDP, even though Tuoyo Omatsuli did not complete his tenure. An Urhobo, Samuel Adjogbe, completed that position.”

    The President of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), Chief Legborsi Pyagbara, said there is nothing to celebrate in the new appointments.

    He said: “The frequent changes by the Federal Government of the persons at the helm of affairs in NDDC do not allow for stability and consistency in policy making. The Federal Government is simply using NDDC to play politics and not for technical delivery of projects. The NDDC’s Act is also no longer being strictly adhered to.

    “How can NDDC make a difference in the Niger Delta, when the competent helmsmen, who ought to push for the development of the region and empowerment of the people are frequently being changed?”

    The MOSOP leader urged President Buhari to enhance consistency and stability in NDDC, instead of using the interventionist agency to play politics.

    However, the Ologbotsere of Warri Kingdom, Chief Ayiri Emami, differed, saying that the President put round pegs in round holes.

    He said the new board would live to expectation, unlike the past board that failed to develop the region.

    Emami added: “The new board should focus on all ongoing projects so that they it doesn’t end the way of the last board, which did not represent what President Buhari stands for. We have two very solid ministers for the Niger Delta in Godswill Akpabio and Festus Keyamo, and with this team, they should be able to deliver on the mandate of the President. They must go to site and ensure that works that are ongoing in papers are ongoing in reality.”

    Echoing Emami, an activist from Rivers State, Success Jack, applauded President Buhari for taking a courageous decision. He also called for the investigation of the dissolved board headed by Brambaifa.

    Hailing the president, Urhobo and Ijaw youths urged stakeholders in the region to support the new board to achieve its mandate.

    The Urhobo Progress Union (UPU) and the Ijaw Youths Council (IYC), in a statements, said the new helmsmen would perform to expectation.

    The UPU President-General, Olorogun Moses Taiga, in a statement by his Media Assistant, Kenneth Young, urged the ethnic nationalities in the region to cooperate with the board, eschew rivalry and shun politics of distractions.

    He described Okumagba as a patriot and experienced administrator who will not disappoint the region.

    Taiga added: “”Bernard was raised in the Urhobo tradition of truth, equity, courage, integrity, liberation and passion for excellence. The UPU and the entire Urhobo nation are praying for him to succeed in office, and we will give him all the support.”

    A leader of IYC, Eric Omare, a lawyer, charged Okumagba to tackle the infrastructural deficit in the Niger Delta.

    He said: “”The new NDDC management must keep politics aside and face the developmental challenges of the Niger Delta region. We call on all stakeholders in the region to give the new board the required support to achieve their mandate.”