NDDC: AKPABIO’S APPOINTMENT OF SOLE ADMISTRATOR FRAUDULENT….. SAYS TIMI FRANK

"Lootings, in the NDDC will get worse with Akpabio’s appointment of a Sole Administrator who will become a tool in his hands and will create room for more fraud, impunity and illegalities".... Frank.

The appointment of a Sole Administrator by the Godswill Akpabio led Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs has been condemned and described by concerned stakeholders of the Niger Delta region as fraudulent, unconstitutional and strange to the Act establishing the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC.

Since the assumption of Senator Godswill Akpabio as Minister in charge of the Niger Delta Affairs Ministry, there has been an alarming rise in acts of illegalities as it pertains to the running and supervision of the NDDC resulting to the exposure of series of embarrassing corrupt practices.

Raising his fears and concerns is Comrade Timi Frank, a political activist and former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressive Congress, APC.

Frank, a consistent advocate for good governance, rule of law and equitable development of the people of the Niger Delta region and the region itself, warned that appointing a Sole Administrator as against the Acts establishing the Commission is detrimental, unproductive and will end up further destroying the already worsened situation in the Niger Delta Development Commission.

Frank, in a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday, urged the governors of the region, the elected representatives in both Chambers of the National Assembly including the people, to reject, outright, this fraud and abnormality.

Frank, in the statement, stressed that the already discovered cases of lootings in the NDDC will get worse with Akpabio’s appointment of a Sole Administrator who will become a tool in his hands and will create room for more fraud, impunity and illegalities.

Urging the elected leaders of the Niger Delta region to reflect on the sacrifices of leaders past, Frank stressed that, this is not what the likes of late Isaac Boro and Saro Wiwa paid the ultimate price for.

“I want to use this medium to call upon the elders, governors, youths and demand that we all stand up and reject this appointment of a stooge by Godswill Akpabio and cohorts in the Presidency who will further do their bidding in the continued impoverishment of our dear region”.

“Akpabio’s reign of impunity, fraud and illegalities must not be allowed to continue”, he stated.

“Why is Akpabio, and his cohorts in the presidency refusing to appoint a substantive Board for the NDDC but instead, preferring an Interim Management Committee and now, a Sole Administrator that is not recognized in the Act establishing the NDDC”?

“If Akpabio is honest, transparent and has no skeleton or evil notions, why appoint a Sole Administrator from Akwa Ibom state which is against the Act which clearly states that the Managing Director of the NDDC must come from either Delta or Bayelsa states”?

Frank, in the statement, warned that refusal to revert the directive of Akpabio, will result to the immediate commencement of a legal process.

He further warned that the appointment of a Sole Administrator is against the growth and development of the region as the accomplices of Akpabio in the presidency are only interested in the continued looting of the resources of the NDDC.

“No government since the return of democracy in Nigeria has ever stood against the development, prosperity of the people of the Niger Delta region like the regime of General Muhammadu Buhari and this, we must stand up against”.

“The refusal to ensure that the right thing is done, will to lead to protests by the good people of the Niger Delta as, despite the claims of conducting a forensic probe of the activities of the accounts and activities of the NDDC, no report has been issued till date. These are diversionary moves by the Godswill Akpabio Niger Delta Affairs Ministry and his accomplices in the Presidency”.

“This is condemnable, despicable and an outright deviation from the purposes of establishing the NDDC which, one of its primary purposes is to ensure an even development of the Niger Delta region and her people. What we have today is the Niger Delta Sharing and Impoverishment Commission”.

“The NDDC is not a platform for the settlement of its cronies but a commission that will help collaborate in the development and growth of the Niger Delta region”.

“Akpabio is only taking advantage of the people of the Niger Delta region and the Commission knowing too well that there is no President in charge of this country”.

“Therefore, the needful must be done if we, genuinely, want the development and growth of the Niger Delta”, he concluded.