Rights Activist Urges Review Of New NDDC Board List

Rights activist, Chief Rita Lori-Ogbebor has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to review the fresh list of nominees for the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) board recently sent to the Senate.

She said the list was devoid of justice and equity.

At a press conference in Lagos on Wednesday, Lori-Ogbebor said she does not believe that the list fraught with injustice emanated from the president.

She pointed out that the highest oil-producing ethnic group in Delta State, Itsekiri, has no representative in the proposed board, explaining that going by the NDDC Act, it is the turn of Delta State to produce the leadership of the board.

Lori-Ogbebor said, “Mr President, we need justice and fair play.  A list has just been released of the nominees of the NDDC board. Mr President, I don’t believe this list came from you. I hold this idea very strongly because they did it before.

“And I am not afraid of calling those who did it before your enemies and enemies of this country. They work for themselves and do not work for this country. Mr President, I believe that nobody in your position will allow the list that was forwarded to the Senate.

“They did it before by sending a list of nominees to the Senate when you were away.  I stood my ground in the past three years that the list forwarded to the Senate didn’t reflect equity and was not your list.  For anyone to say that you brought out the new list and suddenly nominated the nominees as members of the NDDC board, I disagree.’’

Lori-Ogbebor added that, “The list this time is even worse than the list we had before, which prompted me to go to court. Why am I against the present list?  First, the NDDC Act clearly stated that there should be a managing director and chairman.  It stated that these two positions are to be rotated in alphabetical order and oil quantum produced.’’