SHORTLY after being appointed as Niger Delta Minister, Senator Godswill Akpabio ‘attacked’ the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), which at that point was being overseen by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. Some wondered why he was talking as if the interventionist agency was under his ministry.
Akpabio, The Nation learnt, took his initial steps on the NNDC because he was instructed to focus on the NDDC’s activities, but stakeholders in the Niger Delta were not briefed about the new development. So, when the minister started executing his new mandate, virtually all the critical stakeholders in the Niger Delta found it absurd.
President Muhammadu Buhari’s Independence Day nationwide broadcast, however, sorted it out by placing the NDDC under the ministry. According to the president, it would make the commission better placed to deliver on its mandate.
However, there is a snag; the legality of Buhari’s ‘new intervention’. The apex Itsekiri national mouthpiece, the Itsekiri Leaders of Thought (ILoT), in a response by its National Secretary, Sir Amorighoye Sunny Mene, said the President’s new turn was unlawful, suggesting rather that the commission and the ministry control their individual budgets, but should be partners in the task of developing the region.
“We want the government to stick to the law. Besides, we don’t want the NDDC to be bogged down by several layers of bureaucracy with the attendant patronage. Let the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs manage their budget, but partner the NDDC and other developmental agencies when necessary,” he said.
Another Itsekiri body, the Iwere People’s Congress (IPC), in a statement, observed that the transfer of supervisory authority of the commission from the Presidency to a ministry was a violation of the law that established it. Provisions under NDDC Act, the group said, are explicit enough.
”Under Part II of the Act ‘Functions and Powers of the Commission, etc.’, specifically in Section 7(3) of the Niger Delta Development Commission (Establishment etc) 2000 Act No 6, Laws of the Federation; it was clearly stated that: ‘The Commission shall be subjected to the direction, control or supervision in the performance of its functions under this Act by the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.’ Also, Part VI, Section 23 of the Miscellaneous Section of the above stated Act also infers that, ‘Subject to the provisions of this Act, the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces may give to the Commission directives of a general nature or relating generally, to matters of policy with regards to the performance by the Commission of its functions and it shall be the duty of the Commission to comply with the directives.’
“What the above-stated provisions signify is that the Establishment and Control of the Commission is the responsibility of the Presidency as provided for under the Act, which states summarily that the organisation will be run under the directives of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The above position is what will better serve the interest of the Niger Delta people, to do otherwise, is to short-change the region. For anything to be different, the Niger Delta Development Commission (Establishment etc) Act will have to be amended under due process to reflect any such change.
“However, it is also trite to state that, the Commission is older than the Ministry of the Niger Delta as the Commission was established under the Obasanjo Presidency while the Ministry of the Niger Delta was established under the Yar’Adua Presidency; we do not think it is right, therefore, to place the Commission under the control of the Ministry of the Niger Delta. The Niger Delta people will prefer that the running of the Commission be left the way it is. We wonder if the NDDC is to be supervised by the Niger Delta Ministry, why do the members of the Commission have to go through Senate confirmation as it is the practice with agencies under the Presidency. Why also does the NDDC budget require Senate approval?”
A group, Accountable Leadership for Better Nigeria Initiative, last week threatened legal action if the government failed to rescind its action within 14 days, starting from October 10. According to a petition by counsel to the group, Tolu Babaleye & Co, and addressed to the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami (SAN), the group said it is going to court at the expiration of the 14-day ultimatum.
“We shall take to our clients’ outstanding instructions of taking the matter to court at the expiration of the time stated above if the matter is not resolved to the knowledge of Nigerians. Our clients are a reputable organisation with commitment and passion for an orderly society and a better Nigeria. They believe that things are done by leaders, following the laid down legal standards to engender good governance for the betterment of the citizenry. Our clients, as good governance watchdogs, wish to use this medium to express their displeasure and sadness over the recent illegal and unlawful action taken by the duo of the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Mr. Godswill Akpabio and the Chief of Staff to the President, Mr. Abba Kyari, which if not checked might lay a bad precedence in the country. Our clients feel very strongly that this must be brought to the notice and knowledge of the Chief Law Officer of the Federation and Justice Ministry to unearth the underlying factor necessitating such action,” the petition read.
The Pan Niger Delta Development Forum (PANDEF led by the Ijaw elder statesman, Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark, and other leaders of ethnic nationalities across the oil-rich region, said its concern was not about the change of the supervisor to the commission, but how the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs would combine its statutory role with maintaining sanity in the commission.
PANDEF’s National Secretary, Dr Alfred Mulade told The Nation that the president’s argument could not be faulted.
“The explanation proffered by Mr President for the relocation of the NDDC to the Ministry of Niger Delta could not be faulted in its face value. The worry lies in the capacity of the ministry to provide effective coordination and supervision alongside its primary objectives, for the region. What matters most is the political will to effectively fund the NDDC and the Ministry to enable them deliver on their respective mandates to the people of the Niger Delta region,” Mulade said.
The apex socio-cultural organisation of the Urhobo ethnic nationality, the Urhobo Progress Union (UPU), said its primary concern was the effective performance of the NDDC and not the supervising body, adding that the commission had failed in that regard. Its National Publicity Secretary Abel Oshevire said people of the region expected that the commission should do better under the ministry.
“What the Urhobo people want from the NDDC, just like other stakeholders, is performance. Who supervises the Commission is only a matter of semantics, whether the Presidency or the Niger Delta Ministry, is not an issue to the people of the region. What matters to the people of the Niger Delta now is an NDDC that will develop and transform the place into a status befitting an oil-producing region. The NDDC has failed to live up to the expectations of the people since its establishment more than 15 years ago. It has been more of a curse than blessing to the region. It has been all stories of corruption, leaving the region poorer and under-developed with each successive administration.
“It is expected, however, that bringing it under the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs should produce better result since the minister is from the region and the people should hold him accountable. One hopes that he will not play politics with it and strive to ensure that the Commission lives up to the expectations of the people. One is also confident of the new NDDC to do better, given the track records of the new board members. Both the Chairman, Dr Pius Odubu, and Managing Director, Olorogun Bernard Okumagba, are men of proven integrity, who have distinguished themselves in their previous public offices,” he said.
The last has not been heard about the decision to make a ministry with less than N50 billion budgets to supervise an agency with over N80 billion budget.
