Niger Delta Youths urge FG to form NDDC board of directors

The Niger Delta Youth Council (NDYC) urged the federal government to inaugurate the board of directors of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to prevent the resumption of hostilities in the region.

This is contained in a statement signed by its national coordinator, Mr Jator Abido, Wednesday in Abuja.

Abido warned that if the federal government does not inaugurate a substantial board of directors for the Commission, it could lead to the resumption of hostilities in the region.

Therefore, the council urges the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio to be proactive in the inauguration of the board of directors or else he will be held responsible for any crisis in the region.

According to Abido, the Council is forced to continue its efforts to calm the fragile nerves in the face of the arbitrary administration of the NDDC.

“It will be recalled that some prominent Nigerien ex-activists led by the Ekpemupolo government, aka Tompolo, issued a seven-day ultimatum to the federal government to inaugurate the NDDC board of directors.

“A cabal’s insistence on getting rid of the NDDC filtered board of directors for a single director is completely unacceptable and anti-development for the people of the region,” Abido said.

He explained that residents of the region were opposed to a one-man show in a commission supposed to meet the development needs of all states in the region.

Abido stressed that the Law establishing the Commission provided, among other things, that it would be administered by a Council.

The board of directors will include a president, a chief executive officer, executive directors and commissioners from the nine states that make up the region.

“However, this provision has been blatantly undermined as there is no provision for the interim management committee or single administration in the law that establishes the NDDC,” he said. (NAN)