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NDDC: No court order against inauguration of senate confirmed board, group replies Umana
Following the statement credited to the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Obong Umana Okon Umana that “the President has submitted names of nominees for the board (of NDDC) to the Senate, when the Senate reacted, there were litigations about whether what was done was in line with the position of the law,” Niger Delta Integrity Group (NDIG) has restated that “there are no court orders anywhere in the country impeding the inauguration of the board of NDDC which was appointed by President Buhari and duly confirmed by the Senate on the 5th of November 2019.”
In a statement signed by its President, Akpoebide Okotiene and Secretary, Edet Ekpenyong, the group reminded the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs that “what happened was that after the nominees were screened and confirmed by the Nigerian Senate on the 5th of November 2019, President Buhari asked that the inauguration of the Board should be put on hold pending the completion of a forensic audit in the NDDC.
The Forensic audit report has been submitted to President Muhammadu Buhari since eleven months ago, on September 2, 2021. Regrettably, the NDDC which is the foremost Niger Delta regional development agency and which was set up to right the wrongs in the Niger Delta is still being run by a sole administrator appointed in breach of the NDDC Act.”
Read full statement:
“Our attention has been drawn to a statement in an online platform, Daily Post, on Wednesday, August 17, 2022, credited to the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Obong Umana Okon Umana stating that “the President has submitted names of nominees for the board to the Senate, when the Senate reacted, there were litigations about whether what was done was in line with the position of the law.”
For the avoidance of doubt we, as authentic stakeholders in the region will like to put the records straight.
President Muhamnadu Buhari had forwarded to the Senate for confirmation the appointment of a board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) via a letter dated 18th October, 2019.
Specifically, President Buhari in the letter sought the Senate’s confirmation for Dr Pius Odubu (Edo) as chairman of the NDDC Board, Chief Bernard Okumagba (Delta) as Managing Director, Engr Otobong Ndem (Akwa Ibom) as Executive Director, Projects, and Maxwell Oko (Bayelsa) as Executive Director, Finance and Administration. Others listed in the President’s letter of to the Senate included Prophet Jones Erue, representing Delta State, Chief Victor Ekhalor (Edo), Nwogu N Nwogu (Abia), Theodore A Allison (Bayelsa), Victor Antai (Akwa Ibom), Maurice Effiwatt (Cross River), Olugbenga Edema (Ondo), Hon Uchegbu Chidiebere Kyrian representing Imo state. The rest are Aisha Murtala Mohammed from Kano state representing North West, Shuaib Ardo Zubairu from Adamawa representing North East and Ambassador Abdullahi M Bage from Nasarawa representing North Central, on the board respectively.
The President’s letter personally signed by him reads: “In accordance with the provision of Section 2(2)(a) of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) (Establishment) Act, 2000, I write to forward, for confirmation by the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the under listed nominees for appointment into the NDDC board, to occupy the positions indicated against their names.” President Buhari, in the letter, expressed hope that “the Senate will consider and confirm the nominees in the usual expeditious manner”.
Accordingly, the written request, which was read on the floor of the Senate on Tuesday, October 22, 2019 by its President, Ahmad Lawan, was given expeditious consideration by the upper legislative chamber, which directed its standing committee on NDDC, to carry out screening exercise on all the nominees and report back within a week.
The Senate’s standing committee carried out the screening exercise on 15 out of the 16 nominees on Thursday, October 31, 2019, upon which the Senate in Plenary confirmed their appointments on November 5, 2019.
We therefore wish to restate that there are no court orders anywhere in the country impeding the inauguration of the board of NDDC which was appointed by President Buhari and duly confirmed by the Senate on the 5th of November 2019. What happened was that after the nominees were screened and confirmed by the Nigerian Senate on the 5th of November 2019, President Buhari asked that the inauguration of the Board should be put on hold pending the completion of a forensic audit in the NDDC.
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The Forensic audit report has been submitted to President Muhammadu Buhari since eleven months ago, on September 2, 2021. Regrettably, the NDDC which is the foremost Niger Delta regional development agency and which was set up to right the wrongs in the Niger Delta is still being run by a sole administrator appointed in breach of the NDDC Act.
We recall that President Buhari had earlier made a commitment to the nation on June 24, 2021 when he received the leadership of Ijaw National Congress (INC) in Aso Rock, Abuja. The President said: ‘‘Based on the mismanagement that had previously bedeviled the NDDC, a forensic audit was set up and the result is expected by the end of July, 2021.
I want to assure you that as soon as the forensic audit report is submitted, the NDDC Board will be inaugurated.” The Forensic audit report has been submitted to President Muhammadu Buhari since eleven months ago, on September 2, 2021. Regrettably, the Board is yet to be inaugurated, in accordance with the law.
President Muhammadu Buhari has already nominated a Board for the NDDC in October 2019 whose members were vetted by all relevant agencies of the federal government following which they were screened and confirmed by the Nigerian Senate on November 5 2019.
President Buhari has severally restated his commitment to end the ongoing illegal sole administratorship at the NDDC and inaugurate the Board of the Commission in compliance with the law.
We therefore urge President Buhari to inaugurate the board and management of the Commission, in compliance with the law to ensure that the nine constituent states of the region will have fair and equitable representation in the Commission in line with the Act of the National Assembly 2000 which brought the interventionist agency into existence and made it mandatory for the President to appoint a board and management for the Commission, subject to confirmation by the Senate.
We align with other authentic stakeholders to restate that the preservation of a sole administrator or an interim administration in the management of the Commission is not only a breach of the NDDC Act 2000 but an affront on the long-deprived people of the region who have had to endure three years of the foremost agency being arbitrarily run in breach of the law – the NDDC Act and in utter disregard of their need and the region’s development.
We also wish to remind President Buhari, the Federal Government, and indeed the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) that the continued administration of the NDDC by a sole administrator is illegal because the NDDC Act has no provision for this illegality as the NDDC Act only provides that the Board and Management of the NDDC at any point in time should follow the provisions of the law which states that the Board and management is to be appointed by the President, subject to confirmation by the Senate. In effect, nobody is supposed to begin to administer the NDDC and utilise the huge funds accruing to it on a monthly basis without passing through this legal requirement as stipulated in the NDDC Act.
We also remind President Buhari and the Federal Government that whereas the North East Development Commission (NEDC) has been allowed to function with its duly inaugurated board (since May 2019) in line with the NEDC Act, thereby guaranteeing proper corporate governance, accountability, checks and balances, and fair representation of its constituent states, the NDDC on the other hand has been arbitrarily managed in the past three years by interim administrations/sole administrator, in flagrant violation of the law establishing the Commission.
As stakeholders in the Niger Delta region we align with other credible voices in the region to emphasize that the Federal Government, President Buhari, and indeed the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), should be concerned about the disdain of the Niger Delta people over the manner the NDDC has been handled, most especially administering the Commission with illegal interim managements/sole administrator contraptions for five years in this administration’s seven years in office.
All stakeholders are now awaiting the earnest inauguration of the NDDC Board appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate since November 2019 in line with the NDDC Act to ensure fair representation of the nine constituent states, accountability in the utilisation of the NDDC funds, checks and balances and due process in the administration of the Commission.”
Former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, has approached the Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking an order to stop the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from selling off properties confiscated from her.
Alison-Madueke, through her legal team led by Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), also requested the court to compel the EFCC to recover any assets already auctioned.
She accused the anti-graft agency of violating her fundamental right to a fair hearing, arguing that the sales were conducted without due legal process.
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She claimed the EFCC relied on final forfeiture orders obtained from various courts but failed to serve her with any charges, proof of evidence, or court summons regarding the seized properties.
According to her, the forfeiture orders were secured through “misstatements, misrepresentations, non-disclosure, concealment, and suppression of material facts.”
“In many cases, the final forfeiture orders were made against properties which affected the Applicant’s interest, the courts were misled into making the final order of forfeiture against the Applicant, based on suppression or non-disclosure of material facts,” she stated.
The former minister further argued that the courts which issued the forfeiture orders lacked jurisdiction and failed to respect her constitutional right to a fair hearing.
She insisted that she was outside Nigeria for medical treatment since 2015 and had no access to Nigerian newspapers where the forfeiture notices were reportedly published.
Alison-Madueke also maintained that she had not been convicted of any crime, making the forfeiture and subsequent sale of her properties unjustifiable.
“Only a court of law can declare an act as constituting unlawful activities and there was no such order that had declared the alleged conduct of the Applicant to be unlawful,” she argued.
In a counter-affidavit, the EFCC insisted that the properties were lawfully forfeited following extensive investigations into Alison-Madueke’s tenure as a public official.
The agency cited two criminal cases against her, including suit FHC/ABJ/CR/208/2018 filed in November 2018 and HC/ADYL/56c/2017 filed in July 2017.
The EFCC stated that the asset sales were conducted based on final forfeiture orders issued by Justices C.A. Obiozor and I.N. Oweibo in 2019.
It maintained that all necessary legal procedures were followed, including public notices in newspapers inviting interested parties to contest the forfeitures.
“The final forfeiture orders pursuant to which the sale of the properties was conducted are still in force and have not been set aside. The forfeited properties were disposed of in accordance with the due process of law,” the agency stated.
During Monday’s proceedings, Alison-Madueke’s lawyer, Godwin Iyibor, requested additional time to respond to the EFCC’s counter-affidavit, which was served on March 14. EFCC’s counsel, Divine Okoro, acknowledged delays in filing but assured the court of the agency’s commitment to the case.
Justice Inyang Ekwo adjourned the matter to March 27 for a definite hearing, warning that no further delays would be entertained. “The case has been pending since 2023,” the judge noted.
Alison-Madueke’s legal battle with the EFCC also includes a separate ₦100 billion defamation lawsuit against the agency.
In that suit, she alleged that the EFCC had authored and sponsored publications portraying her as a treasury looter, which she claimed subjected her to “public ridicule, odium, contempt, derision, and obloquy.”
Kano State Governor, Abba Yusuf, has issued a three-month ultimatum to individuals who purchased houses in Kwankwasiyya, Amana, and Bandirawo cities, warning that failure to either occupy or rent them out will lead to revocation and reallocation.
The directive was announced on Monday during the swearing-in ceremony of the newly appointed Commissioner for Housing Development, Ibrahim Adamu, a former Managing Director of the Kano Urban Property Development Authority.
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Governor Yusuf expressed concern over the large number of vacant houses in these estates, which were developed during the administration of former Governor Rabi’u Kwankwaso and later sold to private buyers.
Many of the homes, however, remain unoccupied, raising fears of deterioration and potential security threats.
“We are giving all those who purchased houses in these cities, especially Kwankwasiyya and Amana, an ultimatum—either occupy them or rent them out. If not, the government will revoke the allocation and sell them to those willing to live in them,” the governor declared.
He emphasized that his administration would not allow these estates to become hideouts for criminals, stressing the need to maximize available housing to address the state’s accommodation challenges.
Governor Yusuf also tasked the new Commissioner for Housing Development with tackling Kano’s housing deficit, reaffirming that the ministry was created to address both urban and rural housing needs.
Additionally, he commended the Kano State House of Assembly for their support and cooperation in governance.
The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has shred Mal Nasir El-Rufai over his assertion that the party had deviated from its original goals, with many members now in pursuit of personal interests.
This was detailed in a statement on Monday, in Abuja under the signature of its National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, Esq.
Morka maintained that El-Rufai’s “claim that he exited because the Party had deviated from its founding values or progressive ideology is a smokescreen to weaponise personal grievance garbed as principled dissent. El-Rufai appears traumatised by his failure to land a ministerial position. Nursing a bruised ego, he now lashes out at the platform he rode to political prominence.”
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Issued under the subject, ‘APC to Mallam Nasir El-Rufai: Quit Sulking, Get a Grip, Salvage Some Responsibility, the statement reads, “In his frenzied attempt to justify his rather implausible exit from the All Progressives Party (APC), Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, former Governor of Kaduna State, in an interview with BBC Hausa, opined that APC has deviated from the progressive ideals of its founders and turned into a party where “everyone is now pursuing personal interests.”
In a once viral video, El-Rufai did not hold back when he deprecated politicians, who he argued were consumed by the pursuit of self-interest. In his words, “We have politics of private interest. We have no politics of public interest. Politicians will proudly tell you that politics is about interest. They are ready to collapse the system if they don’t get what they want.”
Today, El-Rufai stands diminished as the epitome of a self-interested politician, blinded by ego, driven by untamed emotion, and brimming with a vengeful desire to “collapse the system.”
In his BBC interview under reference, El-Rufai supplied the real reason for his soreness, stating that he was disappointed by the way he was treated by President Bola Tinubu and his administration, in ostensible reference to his failed ministerial bid. His claim that he exited because the Party had deviated from its founding values or progressive ideology is a smokescreen to weaponise personal grievance garbed as principled dissent. El-Rufai appears traumatised by his failure to land a ministerial position. Nursing a bruised ego, he now lashes out at the platform he rode to political prominence.
APC’s commitment to its founding values and ideals remains as valid and progressive today as they were then. El-Rufai’s allegation of a drift from our Party’s founding values exists only in his foggy imagination. Assuming that matters of political conviction had anything to do with his exit, exactly how is the Social Democratic Party (SDP), El-Rufai’s new political abode, an ideological safe haven?
El-Rufai’s call for opposition members to join him under SDP banner is nothing short of an invitation to drink from a chalice poisoned by selfishness, vengefulness, and delusion of grandeur. Nigerians are far more savvy than El-Rufai thinks, and they know that he is driven by raw self-interest rather than a genuine concern for the country.
Our great Party is unfazed by El-Rufai’s grudge-laden tirade. We continue to welcome millions of new members across the country, who are joining to identify with the Party’s lofty values and support President Tinubu’s bold and transformative policies now birthing sustainable growth and prosperity for our country.
El-Rufai’s claim that Tinubu has failed is as outrageous as it is bogus, and a gross distortion of the reality on the ground. Across all sectors, Nigerians are witnessing tangible progress in the delivery of the President’s campaign promises. Indisputably, Nigeria is better off today than when he took office.
President Tinubu has demonstrated an ironclad commitment to good governance and launched unprecedented policy reforms to address the country’s generational challenges. The removal of fuel subsidy now saves Nigeria an estimated ₦4 trillion annually. The unification of exchange rates has resulted in higher foreign exchange inflow, while the country’s foreign reserves have shown resilient growth despite global economic pressures. President Tinubu’s financial diplomacy has attracted significant foreign direct investment, and reforms in customs and taxation have led to a massive increase in non-oil revenues, while sustained reform in the oil and gas sector has led to a historic boost in the country’s oil export, now upwards of 1.8 million barrels per day.
The President’s strong political will to re-imagine and revitalize Nigeria’s economy is paying off with significant improvement in the country’s GDP growth rate now surging to 3.8% year-on-year in Q4 2024, up from 3.46% in the previous quarter, marking the highest growth rate posted since Q4 2021. This is a direct outcome of the administration’s prudent economic policies and providing a favorable business environment that is widely applauded by the international financial and investment community.
Further, Nigeria’s balance of payment has seen remarkable improvement, with a substantial trade surplus of $14.31 billion in 2024. This is a result of the administration’s vigorous promotion of non-oil exports, reduced reliance on imported goods, and diversification of the country’s economy.
This impressive performance precedes an impending data overhaul, which may reveal an economy that is larger than initially estimated. Prospects for further growth is assuredly bright, with real GDP projected to increase from 3.0% in 2024 to 3.6% in 2025, according to Afreximbank Trade Intelligence Solutions.
In addition, under President Tinubu’s steady leadership, state and local governments now receive vastly higher allocations from the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC), enabling them to extend development to their people. This increased funding has become a potential game-changer for grassroots development, making it possible to execute critical projects and provide essential services to all Nigerians.
Nigerians do not doubt President Tinubu’s uncompromising commitment to economic reform, good governance, and improving their welfare. Rather than engaging in scurrilous propaganda and deliberate misinformation, El-Rufai should offer constructive criticism or alternative policies as expected of serious-minded political opposition. His misleading rhetoric and personal attacks on the president are reprehensible and calculated to undermine the country’s progress.
El-Rufai is free to choose his political affiliation, as he has done. He should stop sulking, get a grip, and salvage some respectability.
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