The Niger Delta Indigenous Contractors Association has applauded President Muhammadu Buhari for terminating the appointment of Mr Effiong Okon Akwa as the Interim Administrator of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
Reacting to announcement of the sack of Mr Akwa by the President and Commander-in-Chief, the group in a statement by its Acting President, Chief Dressman Darlinton, thanked President Buhari for listening to the yearnings of the Niger Delta people and the Contractors Association by sacking the lame duck interim administration and approving the constitution of a new substantive Management Team.
According to Chief Dressman, “His sack was long overdue; history will record it that Mr Effion Akwa was the worst Administrator that has ever superintended the affairs of a critical intervention agency like the NDDC. We make this assertion with every sense of responsibility as bonafide indigenes of the Niger Delta who are genuinely interested in the effective and transparent running of the Commission”.
The statement added that the association is urging the National Assembly, specifically the Committees on NDDC, to allow the Honourable Minister of Niger Delta Affairs and supervising Minister of NDDC some space to do his work. It stated that it is no longer acceptable for them to hide under the pretext of oversight responsibility to constitute unnecessary distraction and undue influence which have tended to slow down the pace of work in the Ministry and NDDC in particular.
“NDDC is in desperate need of a visionary leadership that will pilot its affairs without interference or distraction”, the statement concluded.
The Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs had on Thursday, 20 October, 2022 announced the much anticipated sack of the Interim Administrator of the Niger Delta Development Commission, Mr Effion Akwa. According to the statement, Akwa’s dismissal was with immediate effect, and that the President had also approved the constitution of a new management team and governing Board of the NDDC, in line with section 5 (2) of the NDDC Act, 2000.
The names of the nominees for the new management team and Governing Board are to be transmitted to the National Assembly for approval.
