Stopping NDDC Reforms not in N’Delta’s Interest, Says Perm Sec

Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, Dr. Babayo Ardo, has declared that it will not be in the interest of the region to stampede the federal government into aborting the ongoing reform process in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

He also denied reports that the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, advised protesting youths and women of the Niger Delta region rooting for the constitution of the board of the NDDC to channel their grievances to President Muhammadu Buhari.

Ardo said the rebuttal followed a misleading news item published by some online news media purporting that Akpabio had advised protesting youths and women of the region on the constitution of the board of the NDDC to channel their grievances to President Buhari.

The Permanent Secretary, in a statement said the ministry’s attention was drawn to a misleading news item published by some online news media purporting that Akpabio had advised protesting youths and women of the Niger Delta region calling for the constitution of the board of the NDDC to channel their grievances to President Buhari.

“The sensational headline titled: ‘Channel Your Grievances to Buhari, Akpabio Tells Women, Youths,’ is not only misleading but does not represent the position of the Minister, Senator Godswill Akpabio, on the constitution of the board of the NDDC,” it said.

According to the statement, the sensational headline given to the news item has no bearing with the statement issued by the ministry, adding that at no time did Akpabio meet with youths and women as alleged.

The statement added that at the appropriate time, upon the recommendation of the minister to the president, the board of the NDDC will be constituted.

It stressed that the minister had earlier declared his position on the constitution and inauguration of the board of the NDDC in a statement he personally signed, adding that the statement was widely published in conventional news media and online platforms.

Akpabio’s position, the Permanent Secretary stated, “has not changed and that position has always been that Mr President has set out to reposition the NDDC after 19 years of rot saw to the undermining of the dreams of the fathers of the region, to fast-track its development through the setting up of an interventionist agency”.

“Part of the strategy was a forensic audit to understand what went wrong, despite the resources committed to the Commission over the years.

“The report of that audit has just been submitted to Mr. President, who is studying it to come up with a formula for a commission fit for purpose. That formula is what the board being put together will work with.

“It is not in the interest of the region to stampede the government into aborting the reform process. The president has demonstrated immense love for the Niger Delta and its people.

“This is reflected in the support he has given to the NDDC to complete some of the projects abandoned over the years, like the headquarters complex in Port Harcourt, the Students’ Hostel at Uyo, and the electrification project in Ondo State,” he said.

Ardo further said: “The president wants to give to the region an interventionist agency that will realise the dreams of our fathers for our people and generations yet unborn.”

He noted that the greatest disservice that could be done to the region was to attempt to stampede him, through ingeniously crafted media campaigns, adding that the minister is irrevocably committed to assisting the president to leave behind a legacy for the Niger Delta people, particularly, saving the NDDC from dying like past developmental agencies put together for the region since 1958.

Ardo pointed out that the minister recently inaugurated the Strategic Inter-Ministerial Work Plan (SIWP) to bring to an end, the era of project duplication and multiplication by agencies of government in the region, where foreign development partners like the Stakeholders Democratic Network (SDN), the British High Commission, the Embassy of Netherlands and Facility for Oil Sector Transformation (FOSTER) were all in attendance and pledged their support for the continued development of the region.

“It is the hope of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs that this will put to rest all inquiries, mischief, misinformation, misinterpretation, misrepresentation and falsehood on the subject matter of the constitution of the NDDC board, usually aimed at causing friction between the minister, the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs and the Presidency,” the statement concluded.