• PANDEF sets up reconciliation committee to resolve Wike, Fubara crisis
• Urges Tinubu to reverse abolition of Niger Delta Ministry

Niger Delta agitators under the aegis of Niger Delta Development Force (NDDF) have warned against attempts to use courts to stop Local Government funds in Rivers State.

This is as the Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), led by the South-South leader, Chief Edwin Clark, has set up a High Level Peace and Reconciliation Committee to mediate on and resolve the lingering crisis between the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), Nyesom Wike and Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State.

The group made up of grassroots of freedom fighters and liberation ambassadors in the Niger Delta region urged President Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government not to succumb to alleged antics of Wike, to use Abuja courts to seize allocations meant for the 23 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Rivers State, to satisfy his personal ambitions.

The freedom fighters gave the warning on Sunday, threatening to bomb and shut down oil facilities and installations in the region should any judge, anywhere in the country, particularly Abuja, use the court system to stop revenue allocations to the 23 LGAs with democratically elected officials in line with the judgment of the Supreme Court.

They also warned the Tinubu-led Federal Government not to resurrect the restiveness, agitations and militancy the former Presidents Umaru Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan fought so hard to end through the amnesty programme.

Spokesman of the group, Justin Alabraba, told newsmen , that any judgment from any court in Abuja on Monday or any other day, that denies councils in Rivers State their statutory allocations will be met with heavy and devastating destruction of strategic oil installations across the region.

Alabraba reminded President Tinubu that any attempt to destabilise Rivers will spiral into serious destabilisation of the entire Niger Delta, saying that Rivers is the headquarters of the region.

In a Communique issued at the end of its Special General Assembly meeting held in Port Harcourt weekend, PANDEF said that the reconciliation committee is also saddled with the responsibility of nipping in the bud all disputes and conflicts within the area.

The communiqué was signed by King Alfred Diette-Spiff, the Amayanabo of Twon Brass and first Military Governor of Rivers State as Co-Chairman, Board of Trustees; former Governor of Akwa ibom State, Obong Victor Attah, Co-Chairman, Board of Trustees; former Nigeria Ambassador to Scandinavian countries( Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway), Dr Godknows B. Igali, National Chairman; Hon Godwin Okotie, Ag. National Secretary and Dr. Obiuwevbi Ominimini, National Spokesman.

The Reconciliation Committee which is headed by Obong Victor Attah, Co-Chairman, Pandef BOT, has Senator Emmanuel Ibok-Essien; former Senate Whip, Senator Rowland Owie; Senator Stella Omu; former Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State, Rear Admiral G. John-Jonah; H. E. Pam Ogar, and Rt. Hon. Dr. Stella Dorgu as members.

PANDEF has also condemned in very strong terms, the scrapping of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs by President Bola Tinubu last week, calling on the federal government to further discuss the issue with a view to addressing several specific concerns, especially at a time when the government is pursuing policies to radically increase oil production.

The body said that the Federal Government dissolved the Ministry into a non-existing body without due consideration to those specific circumstances that led to its creation nor consultation with the critical stakeholders.

According to the Communique, the Ministry of Niger Delta was established to address specific issues bordering on the peculiar circumstances of the Niger Delta, its damaged environment and its overall importance to the national economy, even as it welcomed the proposed South-South Commission to supplement existing Federal Agencies, saying however that the name of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NÐDC) should reflect its functions and the actual membership.