New Edo PANDEF chair pledges collaboration with government

Newly elected Chairman of Edo State chapter of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), Brigadier General Idada Ikponmwen (rtd.), has pledged to mobilise international organisations and government at all levels to lift the Niger Delta region.

Ikponmwen, a former Provost Marshal of the Nigerian Army, stated this in Benin City at the weekend shortly after his election.

A member of the National Electoral Commission (NEC) of PANDEF, Dr. Osasu Isibor, said he emerged through a consensus, adding that the positions of National Chairman, Advisory Council, Organising Secretary and Women Leader of PANDEF were zoned to Edo State.

The newly elected officers would be sworn-in at PANDEF’s National convention in Warri, Delta State.

Ikponmwen expressed gratitude to the members for electing him, pointing out that contrary to insinuations in some quarters, PANDEF was not an opposition to the Federal Government and that it has no political objective but aims to protect Niger Delta interests.

He explained that PNADEF’s goal was to identify the real problem of the zone and ensure that we communicate with the Federal Government.

He added that the real problem of the zone was that of neglect by successive governments and that the group was happy that the current administration was making attempts to correct the mistakes of the past.

“Incidentally, most governors of the Niger Delta region are not in the ruling party, as only Edo State is in the ruling party. That is the more reason we would have expected that if the governors properly identify the challenges of the zone, they will be more vocal in identifying changes’’.