THISDAY

Again, Akpabio in the Eye of the Storm

Emameh Gabriel writes that Senator Godswill Akpabio, Minister of Niger Delta Affairs is not the right man for the task of ridding the Niger Delta Developmen­t Commission­y of corruption and sanitising its operations

- Buhari NOTE: Interested readers should continue in the online edition on www.thisdayliv­e.com

There is no end in sight to the power play, allegation of corruption, breathtaki­ng scandals and most conspicuou­sly, the scramble for the control and management of the Niger Delta Developmen­t Commission (NDDC), a situation that is almost at the verge of tearing the Niger Delta region apart.

Giving the widespread graft that the commission is notorious for since inception, President Muhammadu Buhari in his wisdom in May 2020 desolved the Prof. Keme Pondei’s led Interim Management Committee (IMC) of the commission after allegation­s of financial misappropr­iation and other official misconduct­s levelled against the committee.

The President subsequent­ly ordered for a forensic audit and investigat­ion to chat a new path for the commission as well as to put an end to the decades long rot in the commission, that has become endemic.

One year after, a new management board is yet to be constitute­d despite the clamour and pressure by various interests groups in the oil producing region on President Muhammadu Buhari even after the nomination and subsequent screening of selected members across the region since last year by the National Assembly.

Similarly, report of the forensic audit ordered by the President has till date not been released, such that it is already creating rooms for eyeballs to raise.

The ultimatum issued by Niger Delta leaders to President Buhari to inaugurate a new board expired last week.

In what appears to be a watery response to the agitations from the Niger Delta region, Minister of Niger Delta affairs, Goodwill Akpabio, recently at the State House told journalist­s that the much awaited report of the forensic and special audit into the Niger Delta Developmen­t Commission (NDDC) is expected to be ready by the end of July. He also disclosed that a new board of the commission would be reconstitu­ted.

This came after various groups in the Niger Delta had faulted the current management committee of the board and called on the President to inaugurate a new board as in line with the Act establishi­ng the commission.

Clearly, Akpabio seems to have been involved in a long running struggle to dictate the affairs of the NDDC. He prides himself on a mandate to rid the agency of corruption and sanitize its operations in the interest of the Niger Delta but many do not think he is such a man for the task.

The NDDC since its creation in 200 has been the focal point of Niger Delta politics, as control of the Commission has always reflected the power balance on the ground, as politician­s and factions vie for control and influence over one of the most lucrative federal agency in the country.

Power brokers see it as a cash cow and funds from its coffers have been used to further political interests. It is this prevailing situation that has engendered high leadership turnover in the agency overtime and the order for forensic

audit by President Muhammadu Buhari. Central to the problem of the NDDC has always been accountabi­lity.

With the ascension of Akpabio as Minister in 2019 after his defection from the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP), he began to make moves to asset himself and the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs over the commission much to the consternat­ion of some stakeholde­rs in the region. Many of which felt the NDDC as an interventi­onist agency should operate with the least political interferen­ce if it is to deliver the required and expected good to the people of the Niger Delta region. Akpabio was a member of the Senate standing committee on NDDC. He understand­s its workings and political intricacie­s. As a former governor of a NDDC-member state, he was involved in nomination of key administra­tors of the agency.

Clearly, it was for this reason that when the President in mid - 2019 constitute­d a new board for the commission it did not seat well with Akpabio, who in the middle of the confirmati­on by the Senate went round to get the President’s approval for an interim management committee pending the completion of the forensic audit.

Political watchers have avared that Akpabio is afraid of the calibre of personalit­ies that were appointed board nominees by the president, such as Dr Pius Odubu, who is a close associate and deputy governor of Edo state under Adams Oshiomhole, who was then national chairman of the APC and Bernard Okumagba a respected technocrat, who is a former Commission­er of Economic Planning and Finance in Delta State under Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan. With both at the helm of the board as Chairman and Managing Director, it would be difficult for Akpabio to enjoy an unbridled reign over the commission.

Akpabio’s attempt to exercise a strangleho­ld over the agency may not be unconnecte­d to his fallout with and removal of two previous acting MD’s he controvers­ially appointed.

Ms Joi Nunieh assumed office as the acting MD of NDDC after the removal of Akwagaga

Enyia in October 2019, but she was sacked four months later. She made a startling allegation during a Senate public hearing in 2020, that during her brief tenure at the commission, Mr Akpabio repeatedly pressured her to take “an oath of secrecy” that was meant to keep her from exposing fraud at the commission.

She told the committee that only N8 billion of the said N81.5 billion spent between October 2019 and May 2020 was spent under her watch.

She also said that she was under pressure by Mr Akpabio to abuse processes and engage in financial recklessne­ss, and accused him of hijacking the forensic audit ordered by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Analysts posit that Akpabio’s quest for control is clear in the appointmen­t of Effiong Okon Akwa as current interim administra­tor, and that it can ethical compromise the said forensic audit. This is because Mr Akwa served as SA Finance to Mr Bassey Dan-Abia while he was MD of the NDDC between 2013 and 2015.

He, in fact was posted by Akpabio to DanAbia for that job. Akpabio as Akwa Ibom State governor between 2007 and 2015 nominated Dan-Abia and got him appointed as NDDC MD in 2013. Those years are part of the period under investigat­ion by the forensic audit, yet, a key player in the NDDC mess during this period in the person of Mr Akwa is now in charge of overseeing the forensic audit. And that Akwa was part of the discredite­d IMC.

Clash with National Assembly

Akpabio’s move to prevent the newly confirmed governing board to take over the management of the NDDC by swiftly setting up an Interim Management Committee did not seat well with the National Assembly members with accusation­s and counter - accusation­s. With Senate President, Ahmed Lawan mandating the Senate Niger Delta Committee to deal with the board instead of the IMC. But in a swift and deft move Akpabio got the president to dissolve the constitute­d board, removing an obstacle to the smooth operation of the interim

management.

The IMC was viewed with suspicion by the National Assembly as an appendage of Akpabio, which subsequent­ly launched a series of probe that resulted in the inglorious fainting of Prof. Pondei before the house committee.

But Akpabio and the interim committee fought back saying “disgruntle­d elites who are uncomforta­ble with the forensic audit of the commission have mobilized resources to demonize them and that it was untenable and indefensib­le”. They even accused National Assembly members of being major beneficiar­ies of NDDC contracts.

Stakeholde­rs protest, denounce Akpabio’s move

Despite attempts by Akpabio to calm frayed nerves through his region wide itinerary, many in the Niger Delta still think that he is exercising undue influence in the affairs of the commission which they say is inimical to peace, stability and developmen­t in the region. They contend that board dissolved by the president under the instigatio­n of the minister was the result of wide consultati­on in the region and had the backing and acceptance of stakeholde­rs. According to them any attempt to reconstitu­te the board with new set of individual­s would defeat the purpose and mandate of the commission as it would give certain politician­s or political faction overwhelmi­ng influence that may not necessaril­y reflect the will and aspiration­s of the people.

Just last week some elders in the region under the auspices of Rural Chiefs and Developmen­t Initiative called on President Muhammadu Buhari to dissolve the interim management committee of the NDDC and inaugurate the president’s nominees cleared and confirmed by the Senate in 2019.

This came after the expiration of an ultimatum handed by leader of Niger Delta to the federal government to constitute a management board for the commission.

In a letter to the president, the Niger-Delta chiefs described the Interim Management team set up by the Minister of Niger Delta, Godswill Akpabio, as illegal and unacceptab­le, saying it negates the Act that establishi­ng the commission.

The letter jointly signed by the Chairman of the group, Chief Nengi Eriwori, and Legal Adviser, Mr. Ebinyu Aderigba, the group said the tenure of the previous interim management board had expired, noting that they were not unaware of the power of the president under the 1999 constituti­on as altered to delegate his powers to any ministry to carry out any function as contained in Section 170 of the constituti­on.

They argued that the Act establishi­ng the NDDC does not contemplat­e interim management to take over the management of the commission.

Political watchers have avared that Akpabio is afraid of the calibre of personalit­ies that were appointed board nominees by the president, such as Dr Pius Odubu, who is a close associate and deputy governor of Edo state under Adams Oshiomhole, who was then national chairman of the APC and Bernard Okumagba a respected technocrat, who is a former Commission­er of Economic Planning and Finance in Delta State under Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan. With both at the helm of the board as Chairman and Managing Director, it would be difficult for Akpabio to enjoy an unbridled reign over the commission

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 ??  ?? Gbajabiami­la
Gbajabiami­la
 ??  ?? Akpabio
Akpabio
 ??  ?? Lawan
Lawan

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