Ex-Niger Delta militant, Tompolo gives FG seven-day ultimatum to constitute NDDC board

A former Niger Delta militant, Chief Government Ekpemupolo, aka Tompolo, on Sunday, gave the Federal Government a seven-day ultimatum to reconstitute the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, had during a recent meeting with the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) blamed the delay on the reconstitution of the NDDC board on lack of budgetary allocation, poor logistics, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tompolo, who gave the ultimatum in a statement, threatened to cause breakdown of law and order in the Niger Delta if the defederal fails to put in place a substantive NDDC board at the end of the ultimatum.

The ex-militant also described the forensic audit in the commission as a personal mission “ to feather his 2023 political move.”

He said: “I hereby proclaim a seven days ultimatum starting from the date of this publication for the Federal Government to inaugurate the substantive board of the NDDC.

READ ALSO: Akpabio’s meeting with Ijaw youths fails to end protest over NDDC board

“ I have watched and observed with keen interest, the circumstances surrounding the constitution of the NDDC board for some time now. I would have continued to keep watching and observing, but for love of the region and the country.

“The continuous running of the NDDC by a sole administrator at the instance of the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, is undemocratic and anti-development, hence unacceptable to the people of the region.

“There is no provision for either interim management committee or sole administration in the act that establishes the NDDC. Common sense will tell you that the so-called forensic audit that has been used by Senator Akpabio to strangle the commission could be best conducted with a substantive board that brings all representatives from the nine states and other parts of the country.

“As one from the region, Senator Akpabio’s initial mission to audit past activities of the commission was seen as welcome development, but later the people realised that it was a personal mission to feather the next of his 2023 political ambition.”

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