You can’t stampede government into aborting N/ Delta reform process, Akpabio warns

Tunde Opalana, Abuja

Minister of Niger Delta Affairs ministry, Senator Godswill Akpabio has warned those he termed mischief makers to desist from attempt to stampede the Federal Government into aborting ongoing reforms in the Niger Delta region.

He as well refuted claims in the media that he passed the buck on his responsibility for the constitution of the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission ( NDDC).

Akpabio in a personal statement Thursday in Abuja said the misinforming publication is nothing but an attempt at
pushing anti- Niger Delta agenda, to scuttle the due consideration of the report of the Forensic Audit by stampeding the government.

The minister even bemoaned the attempt to drag the hallowed name of President Muhammadu Buhari into this plot.

Akpabio said “for the avoidance of doubt, Mr President has set out to reposition the NDDC after 19 years of rot, saw to the undermining of the dreams of the fathers of the region, to fast track its development through the setting up of an interventionist agency.

“Part of the strategy was a forensic audit to understand what went wrong, despite the resources committed to the Commission over the years.

“The report of that audit has just been submitted to Mr President, who is studying it to come up with a formula for a commission fit for purpose. That formula is what the board being put together will work with.

“It is not in the interest of the region to stampede the government into aborting the reform process. The President has demonstrated immense love for the Niger Delta and its people. This is reflected in the support he has given to the NDDC to complete some of the projects abandoned over the years, like the headquarters complex in Port Harcourt, the Students’ Hostel at Uyo, and the electrification project in Ondo State.

“The President wants to give to the region an interventionist agency that will realize the dreams of our fathers for our people and generations yet unborn.

“The greatest disservice we can do to the region is to attempt to stampede him, through ingeniously crafted media campaigns”.

The minister assured that he is irrevocably committed to assisting Mr President to leave behind a legacy for the Niger Delta people, particularly, “saving the NDDC from dying like past developmental agencies put together for the region since 1958”.