Akpabio, Tompolo Parley Will Bring Peace, Prompt Inauguration Of NDDC Board – Delta Govt

Delta State Deputy Governor, Deacon Kingsley Burutu Otuaro, has assured that the Thursday meeting of Niger Delta Minister, Senator Godswill Akpabio and emancipation advocate, Government Ekpemupolo, aka Tompolo, would bring about peace and prompt inauguration of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, board.

Otuaro attended the closed door session of the Minister’s meeting with Tompolo, at Oporoza, in Warri South-West council, “as indigene, Deputy Governor and representative of the Delta State Government”.

The meeting was held with possible breach of oil infrastructure and general breakdown of law and order hanging over the Niger Delta region.

Tension had heightened over call on the Federal Government to inaugurate a substantive board of the NDDC by Tompolo who issued a 7-day ultimatum expiring Saturday (today).

In a statement made available to newsmen by Bulou Kosin, his Senior Special Assistant on Press and Communication, Otuaro said “Tompolo eventually rationalized that the Niger Delta Affairs Minister, Akpabio, who humbly came to Oporoza to state his case would be practically constrained by the small space within the 7-day ultimatum.

Since Senator Akpabio promised to speedily complete the inauguration of the NDDC board process he claimed to have already commenced, it was ideal to allow little space to Senator Akpabio and review implementation of the ultimatum which will otherwise stall oil production, create possibly bloody clashes and foreclose the very inauguration agitated for”.

Otuaro said the Delta State Government appreciated traditional rulers from Ondo, Edo, Bayelsa and other parts of Delta, Dr. Felix Tuodolo, President emeritus of the IYC, other Ijaw Youth leaders, President of apex Ijaw body, the Ijaw National Congress Prof. Benjamin Okaba and leaders of Itsekiri, Isoko, Urhobo and Ndokwa ethnic nationalities in the Niger Delta who were present in the open meeting in Oporoza and had ensured peace while they urged the lawful inauguration of the NDDC board.

In the open meeting, Otuaro had posited: “the country is in serious tumour as a result of failed leadership. The discussion on the streets by our people is that, has our brother, the uncommon transformation agenda governor also joined the bandwagon of failed leadership.

“We cannot explain why an institution as the NDDC, which is a product of an Act is being run in flagrant abuse of the power establishing it on the guise of a forensic audit. There must be a substantive board for goodness sake”, adding: “The voice of the people should be listened to”.

Continuing, he said; “We want a substantive board in NDDC as soon as possible. We don’t want anything untoward in this region. We want the right thing to be done. As the representative of the governor of Delta state, Dr. Sen. Ifeanyi Okowa, we don’t want a repeat of what happened in the region in 2016.”