A Niger Delta group, the Ijaw Interest Advocates has announced plans to resist the appointment of Lauretta Onochie as Chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission by all means.
This was contained in a statement on Friday by its National Coordinator, Amb. Arerebo Yerinmene and made available to Daily Report Nigeria.
According to Arerebo, Lauretta’s nomination as NDDC Chairman by President Muhammadu Buhari is illegal and against the interest of Ijaws in Delta state.
ATTENTION: Click “HERE” to join our WhatsApp group and receive News updates directly on your WhatsApp!
Lamenting how oil-bearing communities have been neglected, Arerebo emphasized that an illegality of this repute will not be tolerated.
The statement read in full;
“The Leadership of Ijaw Interest Advocates (IIA); received the nomination of Madam Lauretta Onochie as NDDC board chairperson with great shock as the presidency decided to intentionally push the Delta ijaws to the wall of provocation.
“Indisputably, almost all oil producing communities and tribes in Delta State are minorities, they don’t benefit from the 13% derivation funds in the state meant for their development.
“The governors usually from majority tribes sees the 13% as their personal pocket money thereby denying the oil producing communities it is meant for.
“As minorities, we have very narrow political spaces in terms of being in the helm of affairs to influence anything in the state despite being the highest oil producers in the state.
“Unfortunately, in spite of being the oil producers and minorities in the state, the monies accruing from our natural resources are usually used to develop other non oil producing areas by people structured to be in majority that have advantages of been in government.
“NDDC that was originally designed to ameliorate the sufferings of the oil producing communities, today is being systematically hijacked from the oil producing communities.
“Often times, the majority tribes in government makes anti-people laws and policies to short change the minority oil producing communities to perpetually impoverish and deny them of their natural wealth.
“Let’s assume Dr. Cairo’s appointment as EDP in NDDC from non oil producing area of Delta state was a mistake, Ngozi Lauretta’s appointment is seen as deliberate to traumatise the collective feelings of the people from the oil producing communities in Delta state and it would be resisted firmly if urgent decisions are not made to current the injustice.
“These kind of insensitive appointments are the key reasons the oil producing communities are not developed, with reckless appointments like this, they usually influences the NDDC budget to favour their areas for development and totally neglects the oil producing communities.
“Their priority of cause is to develop their communities and not the oil producing communities which the nddc was created for.
“Former President Obasanjo do not make any mistake by adding that clause in the NDDC Act that people that would manage the commission MOST be people from the oil producing communities that bears and understand the brunt of being an oil producing community in the Niger Delta.
“Currently the committee chairmen of the lower and upper chambers of the national assembly are all from non oil producing areas of their states, they both have cleverly fingered the NDDC Act to suit themselves by taking it away from the oil producing areas which was the primary reason the body was created and added non oil producing areas to accommodate themselves.
“Most of the appointments from those area are all from non oil producing areas as well. In Ondo state, recent budgets of nddc only favour the non oil producing areas because of certain people from non oil producing areas in the national assembly in charge of neglecting in totality the targeted areas.
“NDDC was created for specific purposes and targeted areas in terms of development, appointment and even staffing of the commission and not for the general pool like other federal government agencies as the powers in government wants it to be today.
“The government as a matter of urgency should do the needful by correcting some of the deliberate injustices that might affect the efforts of the oil producing communities in the recent collective fight against oil theft in the region. The fight is yielding results today because of the selfless efforts of the oil producing communities.
“90% of all NDDC recent budgetary provisions are skewed towards non oil producing areas in the region because of appointment of people outside the oil producing areas.
“President Olusegun Obasanjo saw it coming and specifically requested that clause in the NDDC Act to protect the interests of the oil producing minorities in Niger Delta.
“NDDC is originally created for only people from oil producing areas hence attempt by greedy national assembly committee chairmen from non oil producing areas to sideline the oil bearing communities should stop, otherwise we would be left with no choice than to mobilize our people to resist it at all levels.”
