Ijaw communities under the auspices of the Movement for the Survival of Izon Ethnic Nationality in Niger Delta (MOSIEND) have urged the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Sen. Godswill Akpabio, to account for the N800billion that accrued to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), between 2020 and 2021.
MOSIEND, in a communiqué after its national executive meeting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, lamented that there was nothing on ground in the Niger Delta to show that such money was received by the NDDC.
The communiqué, signed by MOSIEND’s spokesman, Charles Omusuku, accused Akpabio of manipulating the Presidency to have his ways in the region and the NDDC. It is on record that NDDC has received well over N799billion between 2020 and 2021 and nothing tangible can be seen in the region in the name of development,” the document said.
The group said the Federal Government should take responsibility for the increasing oil bunkering in the region because it reneged on its promise to liberalise the award of modular refineries, to encourage local participation and youth employment.
Also the group through its President, Kennedy Tonjo West, called on the federal government to scrape the ministry. He made the call while speaking on a radio programme monitored in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
He also accused the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, of playing politics with the development of the region, through the ministry.
He said: “We want the Ministry of Niger Delta to be scrapped. NDDC is a stakeholders’ driven institution. It is a democratic representation of the people of Niger Delta.”
“Therefore, checks and balances and monitoring will be very effective. There is the need to scrap the Ministry of Niger Delta and leave NDDC to function optimally.”, he said.
The article was originally published on Politics Nigeria.