Niger Delta group threatens to shut down oil companies over NDDC board

Niger Delta Youth Congress (NDYC) on Thursday, asked the Federal Government to reconstitute a substantive board for the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) within two weeks.

In a resolution issued at the end of its emergency Congress held in Sapele, Delta State and signed by the President-General, Ogboka Umeda, the group threatened to shut down the operations of oil companies in the region if the federal government fails to constitute a substantive board for the commission at the expiration of the ultimatum.

NDYC also decried the slow pace of federal government’s intervention in the Niger Delta.

It noted that the NDDC management as currently structured denies youths in the region many opportunities including empowerment, skill acquisition, contracts and scholarships.

The resolution read: “Also, the ongoing reconstruction of East/West Road is in a snail movement and we doubt if the job will be completed before the exit of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023.

“The ongoing forensic audit in the commission is a sham and ploy to foot drag development in the Niger Delta through the one-man show of Senator Godswill Akpabio and his Akwa brother, hence the call for immediate sack of the sole administrator.

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

“That the Niger Delta Youth Congress (NDYC) hereby issues a two-week ultimatum for an immediate reconstitution of NDDC Board for effective functioning and in with line with its mandate of meaningfully engaging our youths as well as develop the region

“Failure to meet our demands will mean shutting down all oil and gas operations in the Niger Delta region as the youths of the region shall be fully mobilised to take action at the expiration of the ultimatum.”

The Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) had in April demanded the reconstitution of a substantive board for NDDC within one month.

The group also threatened to shut down the region if the board was not in place at the end of the ultimatum.

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