With the termination of Mr Effiong Okon Akwa’s appointment as the Interim Sole Administrator of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), President Muhammadu Buhari has approved that the most senior director in the Commission takes over the running of the affairs of the Commission immediately.
The arrangement will subsist until a substantive Managing Director and members of the Governing Board are constituted for the troubled Commission.
With the presidential order, Engineer Emmanuel Audu-Ohwavborua (FNSE) will act as the Managing Director city pending the appointment of a substantive Managing Director and members of the Governing Board, according to a statement issued by the Director of Press at the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, Patricia Deworitshe.
The statement, which did not give any reason for the removal of the NDDC boss, appointed in October 2022, said; “Sequel to President Muhammadu Buhari’s approval of the disengagement of the Interim Administrator of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) from his position, the President has further approved that the most senior director in the Commission should take over the running of the affairs of the Commission in line with the Federal Government Circular dated 4th December 2017, with Ref. No. 50/S./C.2/268, pending the appointment of a substantive Managing Director and members of the Governing Board”.
The statement by Deworitshe also announced that “President Buhari has also approved the constitution of a new Management Team and Governing Board of the NDDC in line with Section (2) of the NDDC Act, 2000”, adding that “The names of the nominees for the new management team and Governing Board are to be transmitted to the National Assembly for approval.”
It would be recalled that the Senate had in November 2019 confirmed the nominees for the NDDC board with Dr. Pius Odubu as chairman; Bernard Okumagba (Delta) as Managing Director; Otobong Ndem (Akwa Ibom), Executive Director of Projects; Maxwell Oko (Bayelsa), Executive Director of Finance and Administration; Jones Erue (Delta); Victor Ekhator (Edo); Nwogu N. Nwogu (Abia) and Theodore Allison (Bayelsa).
Others include Victor Antai (Akwa Ibom), Maurice Effiwat (Cross River), Olugbenga Edema (Ondo), Uchegbu Kyrian (Imo), Aisha Muhammed (North West); Shuaibu Zubairu (North East) and Abdullahu Bage (North Central).
Surprisingly, instead of inaugurating the new board confirmed by the Senate, the president settled for an Interim Administrator, Effiong Okon Akwa, who was then the Acting Executive Director, Finance and Administration in the NDDC.
Presidency sources hinted that current developments around plans to forward fresh names of new nominees for the NDDC board and management to the Senate indicate the former list may have been dumped amid repeated demands by several stakeholders in the Niger Delta for the members to be inaugurated
Before now, the former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio had assured the Commission’s Board as confirmed by the Senate would be inaugurated by the President after the submission of the controversial Forensic Audit report which was done in August 2021.
