Governors from the oil producing states in the Niger Delta have protested and rejected President Muhammadu Buhari’s nominees into the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
Rising from a meeting Thursday night in Abuja, the governors expressed concerns over the way and manner the appointments were made, saying it did not reflect effecting governance mechanism.
The meeting had in attendance the Governor Seriake Dickson (Bayelsa), Rotimi Akeredolu (Ondo); Godwin Obaseki (Edo); Udom Emmanuel (Akwa Ibom); and representatives of two other states.
However, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State where the new NDDC board Managing Director, Olorogun Bernard Okumagba, has hails from was absent at the meeting.
It was also not clear if Governor Okowa sent a representative to the meeting where the governors promised to protest before President Muhammadu Buhari upon his return from Japan.
Addressing journalists shortly after the meeting, the governor of Bayelsa State, Mr Dickson, said aggrieved governors would seek audience with President Buhari with the view to addressing the imbalance in the appointments.
According to a report in The Nation, Dickson said their concerns arose from protests being staged by people and stakeholders across the nine member states of the NDDC.
The governors however urged calm and restraint in the states, promising ensure that the grievances of the people in the affected states were addressed.
Dickson said, “We are going to meet with President Buhari to discuss the issues”, adding however that they governors would not discuss the specifics until they meet with the President.
