By; JACOB ONJEWU DICKSON
The Minister for Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio has lambasted elements suspected to be “anti-Niger Delta ” for planting false news stories and commentaries on the formation of NDDC Board.
In a media release he personally signed and titled “Re: Formation of NDDC Board Not Part Of My Responsibility”, the minister took a swipe at persons syndicating news stories suggesting he had left the responsibility of constituting the Board at the mercy of NDDC. This narrative, according to the minister, surfaced in the media while he was in far away France on official assignment.
He explained that the mischief-makers deliberately quoted out of context a recent media statement by his aide Jackson Udom.
“While I am not shocked by the mischief inherent in the publication, I am alarmed at the extent of falsehood the writers went in pushing their anti- Niger Delta agenda, to scuttle the due consideration of the report of the Forensic Audit by stampeding the government”, the Minister stated.
” More alarming is the attempt to drag the hallowed name of our president into this plot.
For the avoidance of doubt, 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”, he clarified.
He further stated that part of the strategy to achieving government’s desired object 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”, Akpabio further explained
He pointed out that President Buhari wanted to give to the Niger Delta region “an interventionist agency that will realize the dreams of our fathers for our people and generations yet unborn”.
Turning to the mischief-makers, he said “the greatest disservice we can do to the region is to attempt to stampede him ( Buhari), through ingeniously crafted media campaigns.”
He then declared thus: “I am irrevocably committed to assisting Mr 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”.
