Niger Delta Group faults Ogbebor, tells Buhari to inaugurate Bernard Okumagba board

Emmanuel Thomas  l Friday, July 23, 2021

 

LAGOS, Nigeria – The Niger Delta Integrity Group has faulted the position adopted by Nigerian entrepreneur, Mrs.  Rita Lori-Ogbebor on the Niger Delta Development Commission(NDDC), calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to as a matter of urgency inaugurate the NDDC board which has Olorogun Bernard Okumagba as Chairman.

Rita Lori Ogbebor had alleged  in newspaper adverts that the Olorogun Bernard Okumagba board  which is awaiting inauguration by the president had been disbanded.  But in a statement signed by  Messrs. Akpoebide Okotiene  and Edet Ekpeyong, President and Secretary respectively, the group  said there was no dissolution or “disbandment” of the Senate Confirmed NDDC Board, as falsely claimed by Rita Lori-Ogbebor.

“There is also no court order  or judgment against the inauguration of the Board appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari since it was confirmed by the Senate on  November 5,  2019.

“Rita Lori-Ogbegbor is clearly acting for interests whose sole aim is to continue to foster the illegal and illegitimate interim contraptions that have held sway in the NDDC for close to two years now. It is very clear that Lori-Ogbebor is working for persons who want to perpetuate the interim management contraption at the NDDC, in opposition to the clearly-stated demands and expectations of Niger Deltans from across the ethnic nationalities and the nine constituent states”, the group said.

The group noted that Rita Lori-ogbebor’s  assertion is against the spirit and aspiration of Niger Deltans who have asked why the NDDC Board cannot be put in place in compliance with the NDDC Act while the forensic audit of the period up to 2019 is ongoing.

“People like Rita Lori-Ogbebor have deployed falsehood to build a nest of unearned and undeserved privileges over the years by feasting on falsehood, acrimony and division. A decent society cannot allow her to continue to spew lies to deliberately interfere with the legitimate process of governance”, the group noted.

It noted that Rita Lori-Ogbebor was not right in her claim that the Governing Board of the NDDC which was appointed by the President in October 2019 and confirmed by the Nigerian Senate on November 5, 2019 was stood down on account of false claims and law suit.

“This is capital falsehood. The truth is that the so-called claims made by her and her cohorts have not been upheld anywhere because they are false claims. All her claims do not hold water and are intended to fraudulently ambush the legitimate process. Her strategy is to throw up inaccurate, unfounded, claims  with the aim of misleading the public and institutions.

“The facts are very clear and indisputable. What happened in the case of the NDDC Governing Board, which was appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari in October 2019 is that after the nominees were  screened and confirmed by the Nigerian Senate on the 5th of November 2019, Mr President asked that the inauguration of the Board should be put on hold pending the completion of the forensic audit, for which an Interim Management Committee was appointed for the NDDC. The Federal Government announced during the inauguration ceremony of the IMC that the Senate-Confirmed NDDC Board will be inaugurated after the forensic audit. The decision to step down the inauguration of the Senate Confirmed Board was not due to any court case. There was no dissolution of the Senate Confirmed Board as it had not been inaugurated, nor was it disbanded.

“President Muhammadu Buhari has already nominated a Board for the NDDC in October 2019 whose members were vetted by all relevant agencies of the federal government following which they were screened and confirmed by the Nigerian Senate on November 5 2019. They are only now waiting to be inaugurated. Mr President has restated his intention to inaugurate the Board on the completion of the forensic audit by the end of July 2021.

“On the 24th day of June 2021, while receiving the Ijaw National Congress at the State House in Abuja, President Buhari said that the NDDC Board would be INAUGURATED as soon as the forensic audit report is submitted and accepted”, the group said.

The Niger Delta Integrity group quoted the President as asserting:  ‘‘Based on the mismanagement that had previously bedeviled the NDDC, a forensic audit was set up and the result is expected by the end of July, 2021. I want to assure you that as soon as the forensic audit report is submitted and accepted, the NDDC Board will be inaugurated.”

The group said it is clear  that Rita Lori-Ogbebor is telling lies and  is neither speaking for the Niger Delta people nor acting in their best interest.

“We therefore urge the general public, stakeholders  and Niger Deltans to ignore her ignominious deception,  anti-people  statements and  meddlesome outbursts as we await the earnest inauguration of the NDDC Board to ensure fair representation of the nine constituent states, accountability in the utilisation of the NDDC funds, checks and balances and due process in the Commission in compliance with the NDDC Act”, the group said.