Allow Bayelsa Full NDDC Board Tenure For Stability, Says SSRG

The South South Reawakening Group (SSRG) has said that Bayelsa State should be allowed to complete it’s full tenure in the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) as applicable to other states.

Convener of SSRG, Mr Joseph Ambakederimo in a Press Statement at the weekend, while making case for Bayelsa State in the board of the NDDC pointed out that statutory appointment should be allowed to run its full course for continuity and accountability.

“Part 1 section 3 deals with Tenure of the office of Board members-Section 3 (1) states subject to the provisions of section 4 of this Act a member of the Board, other than an ex-officio member, shall hold office for a term of 4 years at the first instance and may be reappointed for a further term of 4 years and no more”, the group said.

According to the group; “Statutory appointments should be allowed to run it’s full course for continuity and accountability. The letters and provisions of the NDDC establishment Act 2000 as amended should be sacroscant and upheld by all. The NDDC establishment Act is the Bible that should be our guidance at all times and has to be respected. Therefore anything that is smuggled into this document to be implemented is alien and should be rejected by all”.

The stated that the beginning of the fresh start of the appointment of Samuel Ogbuku as made by President Bola Tinubu starts from August, 2023 and should terminate August, 2027 is without ambiguity.

“Therefore we urge those who are becoming restive to respect the letters and spirit as contained in the NDDC establishment Act and allow Bayelsa State to complete it’s tenure in the person of Dr. Samuel Ogbuku”, the group also said.

The Group wrote; “When persons who ought to know begin to agitate negatively against what ordinarily should be the correct position then it becomes very clear to discerning minds that such agitation is purely for self serving purposes. We should not give an iota of thought to the interim management idea that these persons are pushing, it will not be beneficial to the region and it’s people, but beneficial to only a few who have always seen the NDDC as their personal fiefdom. A better part of the life of the NDDC has been run on adhoc arrangement with nothing tangible to show within these periods other than tales of woes of mismanagement and misapplication of resources which has become counterproductive to the overall development of the region”.

The Group said that peace and Stability in the region should be paramount at this time to aid and drive the much needed development the people are clamouring for in the region, saying that; “There is never a time quietness and progress has been seen in the Commission than now. For a long time the people of the region are beginning to have a buy-in, into the affairs of the Commission once again due largely to the people centered policy direction and robust programmes implementation of Dr. Samuel Ogbuku leadership”.

“Let us take a deep breath and shift our mindset to the overall development of the region as directed by President Bola Tinubu when he charged the Managing Director to focus more on legacy projects to turn the fortunes of the region around for good and the Managing Director has continued to build on the support of Mr President which has emboldened him to chat uncommon policies towards aggressively upscaling the infrastructural face of the Niger Delta region”, the group added.

According to the group; “The Commission can be seen by even the blind, the people centered projects such as the Light – Up Niger Delta programme harnessing the benefit of renewable energy resources derived from Solar energy, Project “HOPE” launched and executed with the second phase launched already and kicked-off, NDDC Chamber of Commerce collaborating with Port Harcourt Chambers of Commerce to drive inclusivity in the region, and many youths empowerment centered driven programmes amongst others on its remarkable growth trajectory”.