The chieftains of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in three South-South states have protested the alleged infiltration of the members of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) into the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
The APC chietains in Delta, Cross River, and Ondo states said the nominees appointed by President Bola Tinubu were key actors in the PDP who opposed the APC in elections in their states.
Tinubu, on Tuesday, appointed board members and a management team for the NDDC.
In Delta State, APC chieftains from Ijaw, Isoko, and Itsekiri stated that neither the chairman nor the state representative came from the Delta South.
Chiedu Ebie from Ika South in Delta North replaced Lauretta Onochie as the chairman.
Ebie, according to a statement issued by Lucky Esegie, on Thursday, August 31, 2023, was a key player in the PDP who, however, switched with his political mentor, James Ibori, ahead of the presidential and state elections.
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The three ethnic nationalities lamented that “Delta South despite being the major revenue earner for the state and the country had been continuously marginalized in the appointments made by the APC administrations.”
They called on President Tinubu, a man they said believes in equity, to reverse what they described as the injustice being done to the senatorial district.
In Ondo State, the state chapter of the APC also rejected the nomination of Kolade Akinjo as the State Representative on the governing board of NDDC on the claim that he was an adversary in the PDP.
The leaders of the party, in a virtual meeting on Wednesday, however, commended President Tinubu for the appointment of Ifedayo Abegunde as the Executive Director, Corporate Services of the NDDC.
A statement by the state publicity secretary of the party, Alex Kalejaye, said the APC chairman in the state, Ade Adetimehin, presided over the emergency meeting.
Also in Cross River State, the APC rejected the appointment of Asu Okang as the state representative in the NDDC on the claim that he mocked the party’s presidential and governorship candidates during the 2023 general election campaign.
Addressing the youths in his office, the APC chairman in the state, Alphonsus Eba, said the appointment will not stand because it would tantamount to grave injustice to oil-producing areas of the state where the appointment should go to and called for calm.
“We are moving to Abuja to let the President who had clearly been misled to make the appointment and when he sees the true and clear picture, he will reverse the appointment. We have a President who listens,” he said.
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