Barely three days after some ministers resigned including Minister of the Niger Delta, Sen. Godswill Akpabio, the paramount ruler of Idjerhe Kingdom of Delta State, His Majesty, King Obukowho Monday. A. Whiskey, Udurhie I on Sunday called for urgent inauguration of the already screened and confirmed Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) just as he called on the federal government to the over N700 billion he alleged has been allocated to the Commission in the last three years.

He said these steps by the government would help resuscitate the agency and rekindle hope of the people whose regional resources, he alleged, were criminally plundered by the leadership of Federal Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs.

In a press statement personally issued by the monarch and made available to journalists in Benin City, the Idjerhe said “Having voluntarily resigned as Minister of the Niger Delta Affairs, our beloved son, Obong Godswill Obot Akpabio should come out clean to explain to fellow Niger Deltans the whereabouts of the three years running budgetary allocations of the NDDC which inside sources claimed were more than N700 billion.

“The Federal Government and former Minister Akpabio who held the region perpetually captive and denied her of her developmental agenda because of an inglorious forensic audit that never brought out anything should now explain to our people of our collective regional wealth.

“The father of the Nation, Mr. President must have seen now that those he entrusted with the developmental agenda of the oil and gas bearing communities of Nigeria had their own nefarious intentions to swindle and cause more havoc and deny the people their collective dreams of development.

“It is instructive to note, Mr. President, that three options are still available to the federal government of Nigeria; the first being the immediate inauguration of the screened and confirmed Board of the NDDC under the chairmanship of Dr. Pius Egberavwe Odubu and MDship of Olorogun Bernard Okumagba. Secondly, immediate dissolution of the illegally constituted Sole Administrator that is alien to the NDDC Act 2000, and thirdly, every of the allocation to the NDDC from 2019 to 2022 except for those used for staff salaries and sundry expenses, every other monies of the over N700 billion be recovered from whoever were part of the Macabre dance of shame in the past four years,” the king stated.

The traditional ruler further stressed that the inauguration of the already screened and confirmed board, will rekindle hope and restore the Federal Government’s integrity before Nigerians and the international community. (Vanguard)

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