Itsekiri Leader Faults New NDDC Board Appointment

Sunday Okobi

Itsekiri Leader, Chief Rita Lori-Ogbebor, yesterday charged President Muhammadu Buhari to review the new nominees for Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) board in order to ensure justice, equity and fairness.

Lori-Ogbebor, a human rights activist, pointed out that the Itsekiri Nation, being the ‘highest oil-producing ethnic group’ in Delta State, was left out of the nomination.

She expressed the concern at a news conference held in Lagos yesterday, lamenting that the new appointment did not reflect equity, fairness and justice. 

She said: “Going by the NDDC Act, it is the turn of Delta State to produce the leadership of the board. The Itsekiri were rightful beneficiaries.

“Mr. President, we need justice and fair play.  A list has just been released of the nominees for the NDDC board. Mr. President, I don’t want to believe this list came from you.

“I hold this idea very strongly because they did it before. I am not afraid of calling those who did it before your enemies and enemies of this country. They work for themselves and do not work for this country.

“Mr. President, I believe that nobody in your position will allow the list that was forwarded to the Senate. They did it before by sending a list of nominees to the Senate when you were away.

“I stood my ground in the past three years that the list forwarded to the Senate did not reflect equity and was not your list.  For anyone to say that you brought out the new list and suddenly nominated the nominees as members of the NDDC board, I disagree.

“The list this time is even worse than the list we had before, which prompted me to go to court,” Lori-Ogbebor said.

While explaining why she opposed the present list, she said:  “Firstly, the NDDC Act clearly stated that there should be a Managing Director and Chairman.  It stated that these two positions are to be rotated in alphabetical order and oil quantum produced.

“I have kept quiet and Itsekiri people have kept quiet all the while until now. It is the turn of Delta State to produce the leadership. In Delta State, Urhobo and Ijaw have been running the show.

“They were the ones producing the managing directors and chairmen. But the Itsekiri, who actually produce the highest quantity of oil in Delta State are left out. Is it because we are a minority?

“Now, enough is enough! That is why I am crying out that it is the turn of the Itsekiri. That is why I have been in and out of the court in the past three years. We need credible men and women to man the NDDC and the entire Niger Delta region.

“I believe we would find some among the Itsekiri whose turn it is to produce the leadership of NDDC in Delta State. 

“Everybody knows the Itsekiri man is gentle and that is the reason we have been calm for a long time about this injustice. The Itsekiri man believes in Nigeria.

“That is why we have been playing stabilising roles when others are angry. That doesn’t mean we are fools or that we cannot fight. Mr. President, it is the turn of the Itsekiri to produce the managing director of NDDC.

“The lady that was proposed as Chairman is from your kitchen cabinet. She is from Delta North where they do not suffer oil pollution or environmental degradation as Itsekiriland where oil flows everywhere.”