Inaugurating NDDC Board Will Remove Tension, Ill feelings In N-Delta Region, Says PDP Chieftain

By Our Reporter

The inauguration of a substantive Board for the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) will remove tension and ill feelings among stakeholders in the region as well as guarantee accountability in the day to day running of the Commission, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Delta State, Chief Favour Izoukumor has said.

Chief Favour Izoukumor, who is the current Chairman of the Party in Warri South-West Local Government Area, made the assertions in Warri during a media chat.

According to him, the recurring protests by various Niger Delta groups against the Federal Government’s failure to inaugurate the NDDC Board has justified the agitation.

Chief Favour Izoukumor, a former Commissioner representing the Ijaw nationality in the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC) specifically referred to the ongoing agitations on the issue by the various Niger Delta groups including the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Itsekiri Liberation Group (ILG) and lately the foremost Niger Delta ex-militant leader, High Chief Government Ekpemupolo popularly known as Tompolo.

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It will be recalled that the various Niger Delta groups had issued ultimatums to the Federal Government to constitute a substantive board for the NDDC, threatening to close NDDC offices and also shutdown oil exploitations in the region thus making the region ungovernable should the Government fail to do the needful.

Chief Favour Izoukumor, an advocate of peace between the Ijaws and Itsekiris, while addressing journalists urged the Federal Government to hearken to the calls by the various stakeholders by constituting a substantive Board for the NDDC without further delay.

This, he said, would give peace a chance in the Niger Delta region.

He insisted that the inauguration of a substantive Board for the NDDC will not only guarantee accountability in the management of the Commission but also remove ill feelings among the various stakeholders in the region.

The former DESOPADEC Commissioner however urged the various Niger Delta groups threatening to shutdown oil facilities not to do so as, according to him, doing so will create economic hardship for the people and the country as a whole since oil is the mainstay of the national economy.