By Ovie Okpare
The forum of State Chairmen of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately sack the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio over his alleged overbearing interference in the activities of the Niger Delta Development Commission.
The APC chairmen accussed the former governor of Akwa Ibom State of alleged flagrant disobedience of Presidential directive and overbearing conduct orchestrated to promote lawlessness and embarrass the President.
In a statement signed by the chairman and Secretary of the APC chairmen’s forum, Ali Bukar Dolari and Ben Nwoye respectively, the body posited that Akpabio should be shown the way out to put an end to the minister’s alleged anti-progressive ideas aimed at ridiculing the party.
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The statement read, “We see the minister as a clog in the wheel of progress who has not imbibed the culture of progressive ideologies. He has vested interest to annex the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) as a unit of the Niger Delta Ministry where he is the Minister.
“We query the rationale behind Akpabio’s hastened moves to impose an illegal Interim Management Committee in breach of the NDDC act particularly, his naming of one Dr. Cairo Ojougboh a Medical Doctor, as Executive Director Projects whereas the NDDC establishment act makes it mandatory for the occupant of that office, to be a certified Engineer with the requisite engineering certificates and membership of statutory regulatory bodies.
“What does Akpabio intend to achieve by hurriedly appointing Dr. Joy Nunieh who incidentally is the Rivers State Representative as Acting Managing Director of his unconstitutional Interim Management Committee whereas, he Akpabio is aware of President Muhammadu Buhari’s appointment of a substantive board who are currently undergoing confirmation screening by the Senate?
“We view a situation where a Minister exhibits crass insubordination to the office and person of the President, who appointed him as minister, as disgraceful and a national embarrassment.”
The APC chairmen particularly frowned at the actions of Akpabio in the inauguration of an interim committee to pilot the activities of NDDC when the President had already forwarded names of the new board to the senate for confirmation.
“We are irked by the conflicting orders one exercised by the President and Commander in Chief who effectively discharged his powers in accordance with the provisions of section 2(2)(a) of the Niger Delta Development Commission,(NDDC) ( Establishment) Act, 2000 by appointing eminent Nigerians into the governing board of the NDDC as read by the President of Senate, Dr. Ahmad Lawan in plenary only for Godswill Akpabio to appear on Channelstv program ‘Politics today’, in the evening of same day to a three man committee to run the affairs of the NDDC which President Buhari has earlier appointed qualified Nigerians to oversee via his executive communication to the Senate seeking for confirmation of the nominees.
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“We will no longer sit aloof to allow overzealous individuals driven by inordinate ambitions, to disgrace Mr. President through their vexed and unconstitutional shameful actions aimed at destroying the sound legacies of the next level agenda of this administration we laboured to bring to power.
“We call on the President to sack Senator Godswill Akpabio without delay, before he causes more embarrassment to this government and malign his hard earned reputation with his uncommon illegalities.
“We call on President Buhari to reverse the order delegating his statutory regulatory powers of the NDDC to the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs. The Minister’s overbearing conducts so far shows that the NDDC under the supervision of the Ministry will be counter-productive as such, the supervision of the NDDC should be returned back to the Presidency as it was before now.
“We call on the leadership of the National Assembly to exercise it’s constitutional powers to correct the lawlessness of the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs and ensure the immediate inauguration of the board upon confirmation by the Senate so as to curb the arbitrariness of a power drunk uncommon Minister and uphold the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”, the statement added.
