Wike cautions NDDC on non-interference

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has cautioned management of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to face their work and stop being controlled by Abuja politicians for fear of being removed.

He said people were abusing the Niger Delta region because the NDDC had wasted trillions of naira without lifting the people of the region out of poverty and without commensurate development projects to show for the huge funds received.

Wike stated this yesterday when the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of the NDDC led by the Sole Administrator, Effiong Akwa, visited him at Government House, Port Harcourt, stressing that it was better for the management to work for the people so that when they are eventually removed, they will take solace in the fact that they did their best for the region.

“The problem is that you allow people from outside to control you. You want to have godfathers from the East, West and North. NDDC is created for the Niger Delta. Use the money for the people and the region.

“Those Abuja portfolio contractors are part of the people controlling you. They tell you what to do and you do their bidding for fear of being removed, but you will be removed eventually. So, why not work for the people and when you are removed, you are convinced that you did your best for the region,” he said.

Governor Wike also charged the management to always work with governors of the region on equal basis and separate the commission’s affairs from politics so that together, they could achieve the desired development.

He urged the management to visit all the governors, as they remain members of the NDDC governing council and leaders of the states, adding: “Don’t entangle yourself with unnecessary bickering, politicking, show a difference.”

Wike also urged the NDDC management to obey subsisting court orders that make it compulsory for the commission to seek the consent of the state government before embarking on any project, particularly in Rivers State.

He warned that if the NDDC continued to defy the state government, it would have no option than to sue the commission to court for contempt.

Speaking, Akwa, who pointed out that the visit was the first to any governor in the region, told Wike that the newly completed NDDC Head Office in Port Harcourt was ready for commissioning on February 25, 2021.

He presented six waste disposal trucks to the Rivers State Government to improve the sanitary conditions of the state.