Stakeholders in the Niger Delta region have appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to approve a board rather than a sole administrator for the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

Under the auspices of the Niger Delta Movement for Development (NDMD), the stakeholders appealed in a statement signed by its publicity secretary, Ogbakiri Yanga, on Thursday in Yenagoa.

The NDMD members said they would only accept the current management team led by Efiong Akwa as the commission’s last interim administrator.

The stakeholders said their call became necessary because they recently “observed with dismay another selfish plot to make the NDDC an appendage of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs with full powers to dictate the direction of the commission.”

The statement said the NDMD emergency meeting, where their resolution was taken, was attended by youth leaders and elders from the region. Members of the NDMD resolved that they would not accept another sole administrator for the NDDC.

The NDMD maintained that any other change in the management of the NDDC should be the appointment of a board rather than a sole administrator, as directed by the Act establishing the commission.

“This is the least we expect from the Presidency and the Ministry of Niger Delta. Any announcement of another interim administrator other than the inauguration of a substantive board will be viewed by us as provocative and the highest level of insensitivity,” said the group. “We have stomached this outright neglect of our opinions and feelings for a long time because we believe that Dr Efiong Akwa will be the last sole administrator of this commission.”

The group added, “Any other change of management must be the inauguration of a board.”

“We want to believe that some selfish individuals are bent on totally damaging the image of President Muhammadu Buhari in the Niger Delta. Already, the way some of these individuals have handled the affairs of the NDDC has left much to be desired,” the statement added.

(NAN)