…MOURNS DEATH OF OVER 600 PEOPLE IN THE FLOOD
After reviewing the devastation, caused by the recent flooding in the country, especially in the Niger Delta States, an extraordinary meeting of the Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, on Friday called on President Muhammadu Buhari to visit Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers States, to access the level of damage and destruction, as is normally done, all over the world.
According to PANDEF, other relevant agencies of the Federal Government as well as the international and indigenous oil companies, other corporate bodies and well-meaning individuals should visit the states for immediate assistance to ameliorate their suffering.
The group challenged the Federal Ministry of Works, the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA), NDDC, the military and other relevant agencies of the federal government to immediately initiate repair works on the collapsed portions of the East-West Road, which the PANDEF claimed have resulted in the isolation of the entire Bayelsa State from the rest of the country.
“We further call on the Federal Ministry of Works to begin an assessment of the quality of work on the all-important East-West Road, which connects the oil-producing states of the country.” The communique reads.
PANDEF, explained that they have constituted a 12-Man-Committee to coordinate its relief efforts for the flood victims.
The group further charged the Federal Government to urgently undertake comprehensive technical studies and plans with timelines for a solution to this question of flooding including building new Dams like Zungeru and Kashimbila, as was undertaken by former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.
These were contained in the Communique after the extraordinary meeting of the PANDEF, which took place at Abuja on Thursday.
The high level meeting ended with the group’s 11 points demand from the federal government of which one of them is a presidential visit to the sites of the flood disaster and see the victims.
The communique issued and adopted at the end of the Extraordinary meeting of the group on Friday, was signed by the National leader of the group, Chief (Dr.) Edwin Kiagbodo Clark, Senator Emmanuel Ibok Essien, National Chairman, Senator Bassey Ewa Henshaw, Member of the BOT,
Dame Betty Igbeyi, National Woman leader, Chief Denzil Amagbe Kentebe, Member, Advisory Council, and Ken Robinson, National Publicity Secretary.
The meeting had in attendance all the members of the PANDEF Board of Trustees, the National Executive Committee (NEC) and State Executive Committees (SEC), as well as other critical stakeholders of the Niger Delta region.
Those also in the meeting include former Governors, former ministers, former members of the National Assembly, Traditional Rulers, former Ambassadors, Academics, political and business leaders, civil activists, women, and youth leaders.
The communique hings on the devastating flood situation in some States, crude oil theft and the startling revelations, the Presidential Amnesty Programme, the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, and the 2023 general elections.
Also the PANDEF spoke on the water resources bill, South-South governors and elected officials of the zone. The Meeting deliberated, extensively, on matters of critical concern to the Niger Delta region and the nation
According to the PANDEF, it’s painful and disturbing that over 600 people died, and millions of villagers sacked by the flood with over 300, 000, acres of farmland destroyed by the flood.
The group regretted the devastating and deplorable condition of the States of the Niger Delta, especially, Bayelsa State. According to the PANDEF, Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers States have been drowned by the flooding, expressing sadness that the villages in the states are going into extinction.
The group empathized with other Nigerians, all over the country, who have lost loved ones and property due to the ravaging floods.
PANDEF expressed total shock over the recent shocking revelations of massive and systematic oil theft in the region and commended the efforts of Chief Government Ekpemupolo (Tompolo) and the youths of the Niger Delta, who by their diligence and patriotic zeal uncovered the mind-boggling mechanisms of those pillaging the nation’s oil resources.
“With the admission by the management of the NNPC, of the existence of the sophisticated syndicate, which for several decades, has continued to siphon the wealth of the country; PANDEF calls for an apology to the people of the Niger Delta, who have been falsely accused over the years.
“We urge the President as substantive Minister of Petroleum, to urgently take steps to launch a full-scale investigation into this matter, including constituting a Judicial Panel of Inquiry to ascertain the perpetrators of this outrageous thievery. THERE MUST BE NO SACRED COWS!
“This huge state of oil theft further re-enforces our call for True Federalism to afford our people better participation in the operations and management of the wealth in the Niger Delta.
“We further request the Federal Government to set up the mechanism for setting up modular refineries around the Niger Delta to bring an effective end to artisanal refining.” The communique added.
PANDEF warned the federal government against any plan to terminate the Presidential Amnesty Programme based on the recent rumours that the government was planning to cancel the programme before the end of the Buhari administration;
According to the PANDEF, attempt to cancel the Presidential Amnesty programme due to a pipeline Surveillance contract awarded to a private firm, is not only illogical but unacceptable adding that the Amnesty Programme was an intervention to promote peace and stability in the Niger Delta.
According to the group any attempt to prematurely end the programme would be detrimental to the peace and stability of the Niger Delta. The PANDEF stated that
the Amnesty Programme should be extended to include the full re-integration of all beneficiaries.
On the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, PANDEF, stated that the organization received news of the sack of Mr. Effiong Okon Akwa, interim administrator of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), and the subsequent appointment of Engr. Emmanuel Audu-Ohwavborua, from Delta State, to head the commission pending the appointment of a substantive management team and governing board.
PANDEF described another described the appointment of another Interim Head of the NDDC after the sack of Effiong Okon Akwa as awful and hopes that the substantive management and governing board for the Commission would be constituted, in line with the NDDC Act, without further delay.
According to them, Mr. Effiong Okon Akwa was the 3rd interim head of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in about three years and wondered why it was difficult to appoint substantive Head of the NDDC.
Concerning the forthcoming 2023 general elections, as it affects the presidency, PANDEF firmly reiterates the stance of the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum that the principle of zoning and power rotation between the North and the South remains sacrosanct.
The group “Accordingly, maintains that the next president of Nigeria should come from the south and calls on all patriotic Nigerians, eligible voters, irrespective of region and religion, who cherish the peace, unity and stability of our country, to VOTE for a Southern candidate in the 2023 presidential election.
“PANDEF would, in due course, make known to the public its preferred candidate amongst the presidential candidates of Southern Extraction, after formal interaction with them.
“Furthermore, PANDEF urges the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to sustain the recently recorded improvements in the nation’s electoral process and ensure that the 2023 Elections are free, fair, credible, and reflect the will of the Nigerian electorates, expressed through the votes cast, in all polling units, across the country.” It
Speaking on the Water Resources Bill, PANDEF outrightly condemned the insistence of the Federal Government to pursue its obnoxious Water Resources Bill and restates that it would be sternly resisted by the region.
It called on the South-South Governors and Elected Officials of the zone, especially the incoming officers and the outgoing including those elected to be rededicated to good governance and unity on all issues about the region.
“PANDEF notes the efforts of the National Assembly to amend certain Sections of the 1999 Constitution; urges that the process must be comprehensive in the direction of True Federalism.
“The meeting expresses appreciation to its National Leader, Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark, OFR, CON, other leaders and the entire membership, for their continuous commitment to the peace and unity of the Niger Delta region and the enthronement of a fairer, more egalitarian Nigeria, where equity, justice and fairness reigns.” The Communique reads.
