The immediate past Governor of Bayelsa State, the Hon. Seriake Dickson, and a coalition of Ijaw groups have showered encomium on President Muhammadu Buhari for appointing Prof Kemebradikumo Pondei as the Acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission.
While former Governor Seriake Dickson described Prof. Kemebradikumo Pondei as a hardworking professional, urging him to use his wealth of experience to clean up the NDDC for optimum performance.
The coalition of the Niger Delta groups, in a statement jointly signed by its conveners, Mr Pureh Kalango (National Coordinator Person Not Party), Secretary Engr Abiye Achepaka (President Ijaw Professionals and Entrepreneurs Association IPYED) and comrade Saint Mienpamo Onitsha (State Chairman PANDLEAF Bayelsa State) expressed optimism that the appointment of Professor Kemebradikumo Daniel Pondei as Ag Managing Director will bring relative peace because it has fulfilled two out of three of our demands.
According to the group, the choice of Pondei as Acting Managing Director of the NDDC is apolitical and satisfies the zoning formula as enshrined in the NDDC act 2000,”We thank Mr President for also appointing an independent audit firm Olumuyiwa Bashiru and Co to conduct a proper audit and also pray a proper board is constituted after a proper verification is carried out”.
“In a congratulatory message to Prof Kemebradikumo Pondei, Mr Pureh Kalango (National coordinator Person Not Party) said Pondei’s appointment is not only a personal honor and affirmation of confidence in his ability to turn things around in the NDDC but also places the Niger Delta region on a path to posterity judging by his antecedent in various positions he held”.
The group however urged the Acting Managing Director to work in harmony with staff and major stakeholders, partner with all Governors in the Nine Niger Delta states and avoid the temptation of been partisan with development and ensure only genuine and completed jobs are paid for after proper investigations has been carried out.
In his separate, Former Governor Dickson, in a statement in Yenagoa, urged Prof Pondei to focus attention on the failed policies, projects and wastages responsible for the failure of the commission to address the challenges of development in the region.
He enjoined Prof Pondei to collaborate effectively with the Bayelsa State Governor and those of other states in the region to actualize the objectives that inspired the establishment of the commission.
“I congratulate Prof. Kemebradikumo Pondei for his recent and well deserved appointment as Ag. Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission. I also commend President Muhammadu Buhari and Chief Godswill Akpabio for the appointment.
“I call on Prof. Pondei whom I have always known as a competent and hardworking man to use his wealth of experience to sanitize the NDDC. As a Bayelsan, Prof. Pondei is aware of the failed policies, projects and wastages which accounts for the under performance of the NDDC.
“I therefore urge him to work loyally with the minister, the governor and government of Bayelsa State as well as the governors of other Niger Delta States, using the appointment to reposition the NDDC in achieving her desired objectives for the benefit of Bayelsa State, and the entire region.”
He said that he had to commend the President for appointing a Bayelsa son into a strategic agency in consonance with the principle and practice for which he is reputed.
