NAIG to Buhari: Withdraw NDDC nominees now, appoint an Itsekiri as new chairman

The National Association of Itsekiri Graduates, NAIG, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari, to immediately withdraw the current nominees of Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC and reconstitute the board to follow the NDDC Act, by nominating an Itsekiri man as the new NDDC Chairman.  

President/ Chief Executive Officer of National Association of Itsekiri Graduates, NAIG, Comrade Collins Edema, in a statement released this evening, Monday December 9, on behalf of the association, noted that the NDDC Act explicitly states that the Office of the Chairman shall rotate amongst member-states of the commission in alphabetical order.  

According to him, the Immediate past chairman of the board is Senator Victor Idoma-Egba, who hails from Cross River State, hence; "Adherence to the provisions of the Act, means that Delta State was in line to produce the next chairman and not Edo State as nominated".

The Itsekiri graduates' body stressed that the several petitions and court cases instituted against the nominees already screened by the National Assembly, attest to the illegality that gave rise to the composition of the controversial board.

NAIG stated; "It is a well documented fact that the Itsekiri Nation aside being the single ethnic Nationality in Nigeria with the highest Crude Oil & Gas production quantum is the rightful tribe from Delta State to be so nominated to fill the position of the NDDC Chairman. It should also be noted that it is the Itsekiri Nation that contributes the largest quantum of Oil & Gas to Edo State".

"We wish to state that to neglect the Itsekiri tribe in the NDDC Board nomination, is not only a rape of our commonwealth, but also a slight to the Itsekiri Nation, being one of the few tribes that are signatories to the Nigeria amalgamation treaty of 1914.

We wish to let President Muhammadu Buhari know that the Itsekiri Nation has been a critical stakeholder to the protection of Oil & Gas facilities in the Niger Delta and has been the most peaceful tribe, thereby ensuring that Nigeria meets her OPEC quarter annually", the statement emphasized.

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