*Says NDDC MD Setting Ex-Agitators On War Path
South-South Elders Progressive Forum, SSEPF, has raised the alarm on a looming crisis in Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta region if immediate steps were not taken to check the situation.
The elders said the resort by the managing director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Chief Samuel Ogbuku and his management team to split the ranks of ex-agitators who had hitherto accepted the Federal Government’s Amnesty Programme and opted for peace, was capable of igniting fresh crisis in the region.
Describing the development as “a dangerous dimension of divide-and-rule antics”, SSEPF Secretary General, Dr Benedict Akparanta, blamed the situation on the desperation of the NDDC management team to retain their positions in the wake of the dissolution of the Governing Boards of Parastatals, Agencies, Institutions and Federal Government-owned companies by President Bola Tinubu.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the elders said it was scandalous and the height of desperation for the NDDC managing director to indulge in the recruitment or dropping names of respected leaders of ex-agitators as supporters of his survivalist tendencies.
The SSEPF said it was constrained to raise the red flag following the public denial of involvement in sponsored discreditable media reports by a respected traditional ruler and Chairman, First Phase ex-agitators in Presidential Amnesty Programme, HRH Henry Binidodogha.
The Edo State-based monarch had distanced himself from Chief Samuel Ogbuku, managing director of the NDDC, following media reports in which he had, alongside two other leaders of Niger Delta ex-agitators, dismissed a coalition of ex-agitations under the aegis of Coalition of Ex-agitators in Niger Delta, CEND, which had given Ogbuku and his management team a five-day ultimatum to vacate their offices.
“It’s going to be pressure for pressure and we will hold the Government responsible for whatever happens”, the group warned in a statement by its leader, ‘General’ Daboikiabo Alalibo, in which it also threatened to occupy the NDDC corporate headquarters in Port Harcourt if Ogbuku and the two executive directors failed to quit their offices at the expiration of the ultimatum.
Barely 24 hours after CEND ultimatum, media reports had indication that Binidodogha as well as chairmen of the second and third phases of the Presidential Amnesty Programme had countered its action as dismissed the group as non authentic ex-agitators.
However, contrary to the reports, the monarch on Sunday, July 23, denied endorsing the reports and distanced himself from the activities of the NDDC managing director, urging him to play the role of a leader and unifier rather than attempting to break the ranks of ex-agitators.
“It’s very wrong for the MD of NDDC to allow his media aides to use the name of ex-agitator leaders to make publications without the approval or consent of the leaders themselves; this clearly shows the MD has no interest for the development of the region.
“There is a platform called ex-agitators leadership forum where I am in charge as the chairman, and there is a group called Coalition of Ex-Agitators in Niger Delta and several other groups. My responsibility as the chairman First Phase of the Presidential amnesty programme is to bring all aggrieved groups together at every point in time to achieve peace and development in the region.
“I am, therefore, calling on the MD of NDDC Mr. Sam Ogbuku to play the role of a leader, rather than the divide and rule tactics, in order to avoid the breakdown of law and order in the region. As a king in the region, I should not be caught in the web of arguments and counter arguments which will not be of any benefit to the people of Niger Delta region.
“As the chairman of the First Phase of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, if given the opportunity, I can reach out to the Coalition of Ex-Agitators in Niger Delta leadership as a spiritual father and traditional ruler and leader with full capacity to address all issues that can attract peace and development in the region,” Binidodogha’s statement read in part.
While commending the monarch for standing on the path of honesty, peace and unity for the Niger Delta, the SSEPF urged President Tinubu to intervene without further delay and relieve members of the NDDC management team of their offices before they trigger crisis in the region.
“Already, there are allegations that a whopping sum of N6billion of the Commission’s funds was disbursed to secure the retention of some members of the NDDC Board following Mr. President’s clear and sweeping directive on dissolution of Governing Boards of Parastatals, Agencies, Institutions and Federal Government-owned companies.
“Mr. President should act promptly and decisively by addressing this issue which portends grave danger at this early stage. Crude oil and natural gas resources are critical in Nigeria’s path to economic prosperity and the sooner the Mr. President deals with issues involving the NDDC swiftly, the better for the stability and development of the Niger Delta region”, the South-south elders admonished.
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