Port Harcourt – The appointment of Mr. Effiong Okon Akwa as Sole Administrator of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) by President Muhammadu Buhari is not only constitutional but beneficial to the region.
This is the position of the Special Adviser to the NDDC Sole Administrator on Youths, Engr. Udengs Eradiri.
Speaking during a programme at Today’s FM on Friday, Udengs maintained that the president’s right to appoint an interim head of the commission automatically gives the current leadership the legitimacy to operate.
The former President of the Ijaw Youth Council, IYC, stressed that the recent Federal High Court judgement in Abuja reportedly reinstating the Prof. Daniel Pondei-led Interim Management Committee (IMC) cannot invalidate the constitutionally-backed action of the president.
He said that: “The president by the constitution has the power to appoint, and he has appointed an acting administrator.
“The constitution says ‘in the absence of a board the president shall appoint an administrator.’ The president only exercised his authority in the interest of Niger Deltans.
“That constitutional authority supersedes the said judgement being talked about. In any case, the time of the IMC, which is not even tenured, had already elapsed so the verdict does not affect the current NDDC leadership.
He noted that a substantive board shall be constituted at the material time as promised by the federal government, considering the ongoing forensic audit that seeks to engender accountability and transparency in the interventionist agency.
Udengs lamented that the incessant protests and litigations against constituted authorities largely distract Niger Delta leaders from discharging their duties optimally, hence called for a change of strategy in the interest of the region.
He insisted that the NDDC sole administrator has a deep love for the region and is recklessly prepared to better the lots of the people through the prudent management of available funds.
He, therefore, admonished all Niger Deltans, both home and abroad, to give the sole administrator the needed support to succeed.
