Stakeholders call on Buhari and Umana to fire the interim head of the NDDC due to an alleged tenure extension plan.

Ibekimi Oriamaja Reports

In response to claims that Mr. Effiong Akwa was using a third party to file baseless lawsuits against the federal government in order to maintain his position as interim administrator of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) until May 2023, some stakeholders in the Niger Delta region have urged President Muhammadu Buhari and the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Mr. Umana Umana, to immediately suspend or sack Mr. Akwa.

The parties contended that Akwa’s status as an interim administrator was unknown to the NDDC founding Act despite the fact that his interim tenure had long since expired and he still heads the organization without any presidential tenure extension. He claimed to have taken the federal government to a federal high court in Abuja on Friday, August 19, 2022, utilizing a third party to restrict the federal government.

Due to this, the Niger Delta Stakeholders accused Akwa of using a third party to file lawsuits and injunctions in the Federal High Court, Abuja judicial division to restrain the federal government. They claimed this was a ploy to keep him in office until 2023. They made this accusation through their secretary general, Chief Anthony Loveday.

The Federal Republic of Nigeria’s President, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs were all named defendants in the lawsuit.
“Mr. Akwa through his supporters have filed a complaint, and they plan to serve all defendants, including the presidency, on Monday, August 22, 2022, or at the latest on Tuesday, August 23,” Loveday stated in the statement.

The President and the Minister of the Niger Delta will be restrained by the court’s injunctions, which they hope to use to force them into agreeing to oversee Akwa as an interim administrator until May 2023.

They have some high-profile allies in the Ministry of Justice who will instruct the ministry’s attorneys to use delay strategies and adjournments until May 2023 in order to block and destroy the cases. Although no formal NDDC board can be appointed or officially launched by President Muhammadu Buhari during this time of judicial intervention since the status quo must be upheld.
“This is tragic for the suffering people in the Niger Delta region,” the statement continued. These politicians are not thinking about the people; instead, all that matters to them is their own self-interest and how to use any means necessary to stay in power. In reality, Mr. Akwa and his supporters in the Ministry of Justice may bring other lawsuits in other federal high courts to entirely restrain the Minister and allow him to hold onto his position through May 2023.