Niger Delta leaders on Sunday urged President Muhammadu Buhari to constitute substantive board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

 The Niger Delta leaders in a statement in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, by the Chairman of Niger Delta Front (NDF), Chief John Harry, protested that if Buhari cared so much about developing the region and making the government wide-ranging, he should quickly constitute a new board for the commission.  They told the President not to dally with the Niger Delta problem. They berated the federal government for the delay in taking action on the forensic audit report on the NDDC.

 The statement reads in Part: ‘’The board is needed to assure the nine states interests in the region’s development process.

‘’Fundamental to the forensic audit report is the question of implementation. The evidence so far is that the Federal Government is not rising to the occasion admirably. 

‘’The Niger Delta people have suffered in silence from the hardship deriving from the advice of interim committee promoters.’’

The leaders commended the Federal Government for the forensic audit, the advantage being that the people of the region have been galvanised into lending full support to President Buhari in his campaign to curtail corruption in the region’s development agency.  

They, however, protested the ploy to constitute another interim committee by the president, saying it is impractical and unnecessary. They chided the individuals and groups who are pressuring President Buhari not to constitute substantive board of the commission, insisting on interim management board.

The leaders stated: ‘’Three issues likely to have negative effects on government plans for the region are the personnel audit, delay in constituting a new board and moves to put in place another interim committee to run the commission. 

“It is a matter of sorrow and regret to see a man or woman betray his region and people. The proposed interim committee will not only make NDDC a weak but scrappy agency.

 ‘’In order to avoid a repetition of our recent experience whereby government engaged in all sorts of interim strategies, the commission’s board should be constituted.”

The leaders protested that the proposed staff audit in the NDDC is a moment of total aberration. They declared that “the purposes of implementing the personnel audit and the agenda will present enormous problems.’’

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They made strong case for rapid departure from past concepts.

The Niger Delta leaders, however.  commended the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Umana Okon Umana, for his largeness of vision.