A group, Youth Initiative for Education, Development and Empowerment of Niger Delta, has condemned what it described as deliberate attempt by the Minister of State for Agriculture, Hon Heineken Lokpobiri and former Governor of Bayelsa State, Mr Timipre Sylva, to cause mischief and threat to the existing peace and in the Niger Delta region.
Addressing a press conference on Thursday, the youths said the otherwise notable sons of the Niger Delta, have thrown decency overboard, engaged in ‘Agberoish’ tactics and undertaken unpatriotic acts capable of hindering the renewed growth and development of the region.
The group posited that “it remains a mystery that Lokpobiri, an appointee on the magnanimity of President Muhammadu Buhari can easily allow himself to be railroaded into destabilizing the inspiring efforts of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), by his consistent and misguided attack on the administration of Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba SAN, as Chairman and Nsima Ekere, Managing Director of the commission.
“It is reprehensible, the group said, that they would continue to insist that the tenure of the present NDDC board should expire this December, 2017 on the basis of their claim that the said board was appointed to complete the tenure of the board it succeeded.
“Let us make the point and strongly too, that argument is a wasteful attempt to unilaterally rewrite the enabling law that set up the commission. Even the section 5, subsection 3 which they are relying on is irrelevant as it clearly applies to situations in which there is a substantive board in place and a vacancy or indeed a number of vacancies happen to occur therein.
“However, nowhere in this or any other section of the act is there even the slightest indication that such tenure completion is envisaged for the entire board or even that a new board might complete the tenure of a sacked one.
“If the duo were loyal party members and altruistic, they should have realized that the present NDDC Board did not meet any board members on ground, rather the one they succeeded was set up the former administration of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government and was appropriately dissolved when the All Progressives Congress (APC) took over.
“It is curious that Mr. Lokpobiri and his taskmaster failed to realize that when the commission’s board was reconstituted, it was without any other members from the board it succeeded, have no reference point whatsoever, from the point of view of tenure with the erstwhile board, and cannot possibly be envisaged under any legal parameters as liable to exit their offices with persons no longer on the board.
“Rather than for these persons to support the decision of President Buhari, on NDDC board, they have decided to try to ridicule the present before right thinking Nigerians and make him look dishonourable in the eyes of right thinking Nigerians.
This is not only embarrassing but utter disrespect for the high office of the President and all that it represents.”
The group commended President Buhari for the clarity that the sacked board did not complete its full tenure and so appropriate and equitable to give the various states their due in the new board.
“Those detractors who are attempting to subvert the gains of change in the region, should desist from setting the region back. Leaders of the region like Timipre Sylva and Sen. Heineken Lokpobiri should cooperate with the current management for the progress of the region, rather than throwing spanner in the works of President Muhammadu towards a better Nigeria.
“Government should ignore all calls capable of balkanizing the nation by vested interests that have benefited from the rot that was perpetuated over the course of previous regimes and forge ahead with the task of cleansing all facets of national life.”
