Politics
Group Blames Buhari, Predecessors For NDDC’s Rot
A group, under the auspices of Vanguard for Transparent Leadership and Democracy (VATLAD) has blamed the perceived rot in the Niger Delta Development Commission NDDC on undue interference by previous Presidents.
It said sadly enough, President Muhammadu Buhari has in the past six years allowed himself to be misled to toe the same line as his predecessors by not allowing the commission to be properly managed to achieve the objective it was set up to achieve for the region and its people.
National President of the group, Comrade Igbini Emmanuel made the allegations in a statement on Friday, insisting that the Act setting up the NDDC was being breached at the detriment of the region.
“While most people have blamed all others except Nigerian Presidents, for this sad state of the commission in the past 21 years, we hold firmly that by virtue of relevant sections of the NDDC Act, the incumbent President of Nigeria who is also the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces is to be held squarely responsible for state of the commission”, he said.
Drawing attention to breaches of the Act, Igbini said, “It is imperative for us to once again draw the attention of the public, particularly to Sections 18 to 21 of the NDDC Act which require that the President of Nigeria causes keeping of transparent financial records of the commission, and preparation and submission of Annual Audit Reports and appointment of Monitoring Committees consisting only of people of proven integrity to constantly monitor the management of funds and implementation of projects by the commission under the leadership of Governing Board duly nominated by the President and screened and confirmed by the Senate of Nigeria. If these were ensured by past Nigerian Presidents, NDDC would have positively turned around the sad state of the region”.
He lamented that the wilful mismanagement of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) since its establishment in the year 2000 by the patriotic elected members of the then National Assembly, would continue to be blamed squarely on all past Presidents of Nigeria from year 2000 and would remain a scar in their conscience because of their deliberate refusal and or failure to patriotically and diligently exercise their statutory powers in line with relevant sections of the NDDC Act to ensure the commission achieved its set objective for the development of the people and region of the crude oil producing Areas of the Niger Delta
“It is sadly no more news that the commission which was deliberately established to specially attend to and address the many decades of massive destruction, deprivation and underdevelopment of the region, has almost become known as “Niger Delta Destruction Commission” in view of the fact that the trillions of Naira released to the commission for the development of the area have been massively looted and diverted by a few unpatriotic Nigerian elites in government and their allies. The recent Forensic Audit Report attests to this sad fact.
“We have since year 2015 continued to advise President Buhari against the danger of allowing himself to be misled by Governors of the oil producing states as well as some top chieftains of his APC to appoint so-called illegal Interim Management Team and to prevent the Senate confirmed members of substantive Board of NDDC to have free access to the commission to carry out their functions for the benefit of the region and its people.
“It is still unexplainable why President Buhari would suddenly turn around to prevent the same persons who on October 18, 2019, he nominated to the Senate for confirmation as members of Governing Board of NDDC from being inaugurated and appealed to the Senate to “consider and confirm the nominees in the usual expeditious manner”, from expeditiously accessing the commission to carry out their functions?”, he said.
Politics
Reps Constitution Review Committee Holds Zonal Hearing For Rivers, C’River, Akwa Ibom In Calabar
A press statement issued by the Chief Press Secretary to the Cross River State Governor, Mr Linus Obogo, disclosed that the Calabar Centre — designated as Centre B — will host representatives and stakeholders from Cross River, Rivers, and Akwa Ibom States.
The public hearing is scheduled to take place on Saturday, July 19, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. at the Transcorp (Metropolitan) Hotel, Calabar.
The initiative, according to the statement, is designed to promote inclusive dialogue and capture the aspirations of Nigerians from all regions.
It aims to serve as a platform for citizens to contribute meaningfully to the ongoing national efforts to refine and strengthen the country’s legal and institutional frameworks.
“Citizens, civil society groups, professional bodies, traditional rulers, and other interest blocs are invited to participate in this landmark engagement aimed at advancing a more just, equitable, and responsive Nigerian Constitution,” the statement read.
The hearing forms part of the broader review process of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), and is seen as a strategic move toward fostering national unity and addressing structural legal issues within the federation.
For the first time since 2022, when then-presidential aspirant Alhaji Bola Tinubu declared he made former President Buhari Nigeria’s President in 2015, Mr Mustapha dismissed the claims, stressing that the merger only contributed about three million votes in addition to Buhari’s existing 12 million votes in the North.
He insisted that former President Buhari’s integrity, national stature, and disciplined messaging were central to the breakthrough, not the three million votes from the merging parties, which he described as insignificant.
Speaking on the role of the merging parties, particularly President Tinubu, the leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Mr Mustapha, who was the keynote speaker at the launch of the book ‘According to the President: Lessons from a Presidential Spokesman’s Experience’ authored by Mallam Garba Shehu, described the impact of the votes from other merging parties as very insignificant.
In attendance were former Head of State Yakubu Gowon, chair of the event; immediate past Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; SGF George Akume, who represented President Tinubu; PDP’s 2023 presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar; former Chief of Staff to Buhari Ibrahim Gambari; elder statesman Babagana Kingibe; former governors Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna), Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Chris Ngige (Anambra), Rauf Aregbesola (Osun), Raji Babatunde Fashola (Lagos); former ministers Solomon Dalung and Sunday Dare; former Army Chief Tukur Buratai, and Bayo Onanuga, President Tinubu’s spokesman, among others.
According to Mr Mustapha, “I do not intend to stir up any controversy. The merger in 2013 was midwifed to create a Buhari presidency. Let us look at the statistics. In the 2003 election, it was the Obasanjo-Buhari presidential contest where Buhari recorded 12.7 million votes. In 2007, it came to 6.6 million, and it went back to 12.2 million in 2011.
“When we were conceptualising the merger, what would give us a headstart? Obviously, it was at the back of our consciousness that the merger with the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), though it had only one state, the ACN had six states, ANPP three states, and when you sum up the total votes that we had as the presidency in 2015, the aggregate of the total votes was 15.4 million.
“So, basically, what we brought to the table after the merger outside the Buhari 12.5 million votes was three million. Before turning to that presidency, it is important to recognise the former President’s role in reshaping Nigeria’s political trajectory.
“In early 2013, as the leader of the CPC, Buhari formally requested and supported the creation of a CPC merger committee, part of a broader coalition-building process that brought together the ACN, ANPP, APGA faction, and elements of the ruling party through the breakaway ‘new PDP’ group. His endorsement and participation, along with other party leaders such as President Tinubu and Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, lent credibility and direction to the merger, helping to unify disparate party factions under the banner of the APC. That coalition-building paved the way for the first democratic defeat of an incumbent ruling party in Nigeria’s history.
“President Buhari’s integrity, national stature, and disciplined messaging were central to that breakthrough. No account of President Buhari’s tenure would be complete without acknowledging the extended periods he spent on medical leave. These moments, while politically delicate, were also telling of his leadership philosophy and personality,” he said.
In his remarks, President Tinubu promised to build on the legacies of former President Buhari, stressing that “nation-building is a relay. The efforts of one administration lay the foundation for the next.
“In this regard, I acknowledge the efforts of my predecessor, President Buhari, and assure all Nigerians that the reform-oriented path he initiated will be consolidated and strengthened under this administration. Our Renewed Hope Agenda is inspired by the desire to build a resilient, just, and inclusive Nigeria—a nation that delivers dividends of democracy to all its citizens”.
Speaking during an appearance on live television on Wednesday, Mr Omokri alleged that Mr Obi’s statements were misleading and damaging to the country’s economic prospects.
Mr Omokri said some investors currently operating in Nigeria were considering exiting the market due to Mr Obi’s remarks.
“That is not true. He doesn’t rile me up. I rile him up. The reason why I came here is because I’m a patriot. Peter Obi lied. You know, foreign direct investors are watching your programme, who are making investment decisions not to come to Nigeria. There are foreign investors in Nigeria that are making investment decisions to leave Nigeria because of the lie he told.
“One of the lies he told is that President Tinubu has borrowed more than the administrations of Yar’Adua, Jonathan, Buhari. That is a blatant lie”, Mr Omokri said.
To buttress his claims, Mr Omokri referenced figures from the Debt Management Office (DMO), maintaining that President Tinubu had actually reduced Nigeria’s external debt burden since assuming office.
“I have here with me data from the Debt Management Office, and Nigerians who are watching can go to DMO.com and search Debt Management Office, Nigeria State of Indebtedness 2015.
“As of 2015, Nigeria was owing a total of $63 billion. When Buhari was leaving office, Nigeria was owing $113 billion. Today, from the DMO, our debt has gone from $113 billion to $97 billion, meaning that Tinubu has reduced our debt by over $14 billion.
“We should be appreciating this man. Yet Peter Obi came here and lied to the Nigerian people. He took the debts and translated them into naira to make it look like the debts have increased”, he said.