Tinubu Implored To Allow Representative Of Bayelsa In NDDC, Ogbuku Complete Statutory Tenure

Sylvester Idowu in Warri 

One of the foremost pressure groups in the Niger Delta region, South South Reawakening Group (SSRG), has implored President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to allow the management of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), led by Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, to complete its tenure.

It said Ogbuku, as representative of Bayelsa on the board of NDDC, should be allowed to complete his statutory tenure of four years which is renewable as enshrined in the commission’s Act.

SSRG, in a statement issued yesterday titled “The NDDC Act: The Case for Bayelsa State to Complete Its Full Tenure As Should Be Applicable to Any Other States” and signed by its Convener, Joseph Ambakederimo, insisted that the federal government should adhere strictly to the letters and provisions of the commission’s establishment Act of 2000 as amended.

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

“The letters and provisions of the NDDC Establishment Act 2000 as amended should be sacrosanct 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”, it added. 

The group insisted that statutory appointments should be allowed to run their full course for continuity and accountability stressing 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  in August, 2027 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 its tenure in the person of Dr. Samuel Ogbuku. 

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”, it added.

SSRG therefore warned that nobody gives thought to the interim management idea some persons were pushing adding “it will not be beneficial to the region and its people, but beneficial to only a few who have always seen the NDDC as their fiefdom. 

“A better part of the life of the NDDC has been run on ad-hoc arrangement with nothing tangible to show within this period other than tales of woes of mismanagement and misapplication of resources which has become counterproductive to the overall development of the region,” it added.