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Don’t Extend NDDC Board’s Tenure -Ex-Agitators
A coalition of Niger Delta agitators have appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to halt any plans aimed at extending the tenure of the present board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
They also called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to initiate a probe on the activities of the erstwhile Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Dr. Habiba Muda Lawal.
The agitators in a statement, yesterday, alleged that Lawal collected billions of Naira from the Chairman and Managing Director of the NDDC, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba and Mr. Nsima Ekere, respectively to extend their tenures to 2020 instead of December 2017 when their time would elapse.
The militants stated that influencing the tenure of current NDDC board officials would breed crisis in the Niger Delta region, warning that they would be forced to resume attacks on the oil installations.
The statement was signed by John Duku for Niger Delta Watchdogs and Coalition of Niger Delta Agitators; Ekpo Ekpo for Niger Delta Volunteers; Osarolor Nedam for Niger Delta Warriors; Henry Okon Etete for Niger Delta Peoples Fighters; Asukwo Henshaw for Bakassi Freedom Fighters; Ibinabo Horsfall for Niger Delta Movement for Justice; Duke Emmanson for Niger Delta Fighters Network and Inibeghe Adams for Niger Delta Freedom Mandate.
Others were Abiye Tariah for Niger Delta Development Network; Joshua Ebere for Renewed Movement for Emancipation of the Niger Delta; Jeremiah Athony for Movement for Actualization of Niger Delta Republic; Francis Okoroafor for Niger Delta Freedom Redemption Army and Nelson Okochi Walter for Niger Delta Liberty Organisation.
The statement reads thus: “The Coalition of Niger Delta Agitators condemns the illegal extension of the NDDC board and demand arrest and prosecution of the immediate past Acting Secretary to the Government of the Federation. It is on record that the tenure of the present board of NDDC elapses by the end of December 2017.
“Our position is that, the peace that is in place in Niger Delta must be oiled further by constituting a new board in accordance with the rules and practices that have been in place. There should be no attempt to extend the tenure of the present board, if the Federal Government is genuinely interested in the peaceful atmosphere that is prevalent in the Niger Delta.
“Presently there is peace in the Niger Delta region; the cease fire which was announced and sustained by all the militant groups last year after the intervention of PANDEF was to give the government a peaceful atmosphere for dialogue and subsequent implementation PANDEF 16-point agenda, rather than extending the NDDC board to create crisis in the Niger Delta.
“Having failed in their bid to escalate crisis in the Niger Delta through the meaningless Operation Crocodile Smiles, the hawks and detractors of the Niger Delta have gone about introducing a very gross illegality in the NDDC board and duration to willfully set one state against another.
“The constitution of the board of NDDC and its tenure has been running seamlessly from inception to date. A seamless and rancor free composition of the Board has followed a defined pattern and each state knows when it will assume the headship of the management team.
“Quite unfortunately, we have been inundated with reports of how Dr. Habiba Muda Lawal abused his privilege of acting as the SGF by collecting billions of Naira from Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba and Mr. Nsima Ekere to influence him (Habiba) to raise a memo that illegally extends the tenure of the current board run for another four years to terminate in 2020.
“Another gross error is that Dr. Habiba Muda Lawal was presumptuous, as the current board was inaugurated by the minister of Niger Delta and as such the NDDC is under the oversight of the Ministry of Niger Delta and not the SGF.
“Secondly, the present board of NDDC does not merit a day extension, the Niger Delta people have witnessed the worst board of NDDC since its inception.
“The present board of NDDC constantly engages in fraud, embezzlement, nepotism, favouritism in award of contract running into billions of Naira, it is a standing order of this present board that such billions of Naira contract be awarded to their family members, friends and political associates, without recourse to due process and the rule of law as contained in the Public Procurement Act.
“For instance, Techsel Products Limited, Gasons Nigeria Limited and many others are few of the companies owned by Mr. Nsima Ekere and brothers and currently handling different NDDC projects running into billions of Naira. As witness by us, majority of these projects are not executed and very few executed are of poorest standard with substandard materials, poor facilities and equipment and are below the globally accepted standard compared with the huge amount such contract was awarded.
“Records in our disposal show that some of the beneficiaries of this ill-awarded contracts are brothers, sisters, in-laws and political associates of the Managing Director of NDDC MD, Mr. Nsima Ekere as well as the cousins, brothers, friends and in-laws to the Executive Director – Projects, including their Aides and relations working in the MD’s office who connived in this illegal adventure of fraud.
“It is a well known fact that the MD’s office has been turn to money making factory by his Aides, the Aides are fond of collecting monies from visitors before allowing them access to the MD without the knowledge of the MD.
“Recently, the MD flooded Akwa Ibom State APC and stakeholders with contract award letters ranging from N150million, N200million, N500million, N800million and above in order to further his 2019 governorship ambition, therefore we and the Niger Delta people in general will resist any attempt to extend the present NDDC board more than December, 2017.
“This action will bring injustice to other states in the Niger Delta which supposed to produce the next MD, Chairman and other board members of NDDC.
“We also wish to alert Mr. President that the recent APC local government campaign flag-off in Akwa Ibom state was funded with N500mllion by the managing director of NDDC, this money was meant for the development of the Niger Delta region, the youth empowerment programme which was embarked by commission was hijacked by the aides of the managing director while water icing contract always given to the youths were shared among the aides and directors in the commission and the state representatives in the commission.
“We hereby demand that: The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) should immediately investigate the immediate past Acting SGF and recover billions of naira meant for the development of the Niger Delta region.
“The Civil Service Commission should also suspend the former Acting Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Dr. Habiba Muda Lawal for the role he played in order to fuel crisis in the Niger Delta region.
“We urged Mr. President to disregard the illegal extension of the tenure of the present NDDC board for the interest of peace in the Niger Delta.
“We also urge the EFCC to investigate the Managing Director of NDDC, Mr. Nsima Ekere, his brother Mr. Idorenyin Ekere, his sisters, his Aides, his political associates, Techsel Products Limited and Gasons Nigeria Limited.
“The same investigation should also be extended to Executive Director – Projects, Executive Director – Finance and the Chairman – Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba.
“Finally, the Coalition of Niger Delta Agitators shall resume serious attack on oil installation from January 15, 2018 if the Federal Government continues with this illegal extension after the expiration of their tenure.
“We want the Nigerian public and the entire world to be aware of this injustice as we shall not accept any illegal extension of the present board of NDDC. A stitch in time saves nine,” the ex-agitators added.
The Rivers State Investment Promotion Agency (RSIPA) has unveiled measures to enthrone ease of doing business and win back the confidence of the business community.
The Director-General of the Agency, Dr Chamberlain Peterside, unveiled the plans at the Breakout Session of RSIPA at the ongoing 18th Port Harcourt International Trade Fair, at the Obi Wali International Cultural Centre, in Port Harcourt.
Dr. Peterside said the agency was poised to free the state from accumulation of wrong narratives that branded it over the years as unsafe for business.
He, however, admitted that many things had gone wrong in the past where regulators joined to make the business environment difficult for investors.
He announced that the agency was rather focused on actions, solutions, and results as adopted in the mission statement of the Board.
“Our task is no mean feat. We are dealing with the perception risk that over several years branded the state as unsafe. We are also faced with the challenges of dealing with the lack of cohesion amongst MDAs, policy inconsistencies, multiple taxation, incessant harassment by miscreants, red tape and delays in obtaining operating permits, high cost of operations and opaque public sector,” he said.
“It is about listening to the investors in the field and ensuring that MDAs are carried along, hence the imperative for the setting up of our One-Stop-Center”, he added.
In his remarks, the Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Warisenibo Joe Johnson, who represented the state governor, said the Fubara administration was ready to listen to the business community to see ways of reducing impediments to investments.
He listed the stages of actions being undertaken by the governor as outlined in his 37-page blue print to revive the economy of Rivers State.
The Mayor of Housing, My-ACE China, who was presented at the event as a star investor and promoter of Rivers State reputation, said for the plans of the investment promotion agency to materialize, an enabling law should replace the Executive Order that established the Rivers State Investment Promotion Agency.
He said this would insulate the agency from political instability and remove fear in the minds of investors about its sustainability.
According to him, protection precedes promotion and Local Direct Investment (LDIs) is what attracts and promotes Foreign Direct Investment (FDIs).
“It is the rat at home that reveals to the one in the bush that there is fish in the kitchen”, he added.
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?The Mayor of Housing who is also the CEO of the Alesa Highlands Sustainable Green Smart City said that Port Harcourt is like a business empire under lock and key because it is not protecting its own and also not promoting its own enough for investors to come in.
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?In the area of land documentation and inventory, China urged Rivers State Government to borrow a leaf from Abuja and adopt the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in dealing with land and property registration and documentation for ease of doing business.
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?He said Lagos understood the power of business information, adding “this creates the impression that if you are not doing it in Lagos, you are not doing it in Africa.
“We need to shout louder than Lagos, because we need more investments than Lagos and the structural integrity of Abuja. When you marry both, Rivers State would be wonderful and become green with investments,” he said.
In her speech, the President of Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (PHCCIMA), Dr. Chinyere Nwoga, called on the state government to look into the menace of parked trucks now turning Trans-Amadi into a risk zone.
She outlined the activities of the PHCCIMA and invited investors and businesses to the Port Harcourt economic hub, saying peace has returned.
The Director, Investors Relations of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Council (NIPC), Mrs Lovina Kayode, urged Rivers State to make haste and catch up on Ease of Doing Business, saying the Council has come to help businesses in the state.
Mrs Kayode, who represented the Executive Secretary/CEO of NIPC, Aisha Rimi, commended the Mayor of Housing and his counterpart, Mr. Oliver Biedima of Rainbow Heritage Group, for their decision to invest in Rivers State, saying it is a proof that Rivers State is safe for investors and their investments.
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In his remarks, Oliver Biedemi of Rainbow Heritage Group urged government to give the private investors chance to develop the economy, saying ordinarily government does not have the funds to develop the economy.
Happy Birthday Chief Barr. Nyesom Ezenwo Wike CON
Honourable Minister Federal Capital Territory
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We’ll Drive Tinubu’s Vision in Rivers With Vigour – Fubara …Inaugurates Dualized Ahoada/Omoku Road ….Debunks Rift With RSHA
Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has stated that he will lead Rivers people to galvanize support for President Bola Tinubu to drive the vision and objectives of the Renewed Hope Agenda in the State with vigour.
The governor, who joined the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), on Tuesday, explained that his decision to join the APC was not for personal interest but for the overall benefit of Rivers State.
Fubara disclosed these while inaugurating the extension of the dualized Ahoada/ Omoku Express road in Ahoada East and Ogba Egbema Ndoni Local Government Areas of Rivers State.
He commended the contracting firm, Julius Berger, for timely delivery of the project, saying the project is a campaign promise fulfilled which will bring economic benefits to the people and tackle issues of insecurity associated with the route.
He said his administration has remained focused in delivering democratic dividends in the state despite facing glaring challenges.
The governor thanked the people of Ahoada East and Ogba Egbema Ndoni Local Government Areas for their continuous support, and urged his supporters to remain steadfast and also support President Tinubu who he said, has demonstrated love to Rivers State as a father.
Fubara denied having rift with the Rivers State House of Assembly, stating that his meeting with the lawmakers was stalled as a result of delay in the agreed meeting to be convened by former Governor Nyesom Wike and other stakeholders for him to meet with the state lawmakers.
“I have made every effort to meet with the Assembly members, but it is not within my leadership to initiate the meeting process.
“The arrangement was for my leader, Wike, and the elders led by Anabraba to call for a meeting with the the lawmakers.
“I’m a gentleman and principled. I can’t go behind to call them when we’ve already agreed. Whoever that tell them that I don’t want to meet with them, or I rejected proposal meant for them isn’t saying the truth,” Fubara said.
The Permanent Secretary of the Rivers State Ministry Works, Mr Austin Ezekiel-Hart, who gave the project description, said the delivery of the project was a fulfillment of long time dream by the people of Ahoada East and Ogba Egbema Ndoni Local Government Areas.
He said the road was previously a single lane and has now been dualised to 14.6 meters wide, complete with solar-powered streetlights with drainages.
He said the road significantly would reduce travel time between Ahoada and Omoku while improving economic activity in the region.
In his welcome address, Chairman of Ogba-Egbema-Ndoni Local Government Area, Hon. Chuku Shedrack Ogbogu, described the road as a symbol of unity, oneness, and development, thanking the governor for fulfilling his campaign promises.
On his part, the Managing Director of Julius Berger, Engr. Peer Lusbash, said the project was awarded to his company in 2023 with a completion period of 18 months which was achieved in best quality.
He added that Julius Berger enjoyed a good support from the Fubara administration, and assured to complete all ongoing projects being handled by Julius Berger on specification, especially the Ring Road project which is a legacy project.
