NDDC: N’Delta group calls for replacement of Lauretta as chairman, threatens to cripple oil facilities

A Niger Delta group under the auspices of the Coalition of Delta Ijaw Oil Producing Communities (CDIOPC) has threatened a showdown with President Muhammadu Buhari over the appointment of Mrs. Lauretta Onochie as chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC.

The angry group said it would return to the creek to cripple oil facilities if Mrs. Lauretta who is not from Ijaw in Delta state was not replaced with Ijaw in the state with immediate effect.

However, the group wholeheartedly congratulated Hon. Samuel Ogbuku on what it described as a well-deserved appointment as the Managing Director of NDDC.

“Earnestly, it is from our innermost mind to thank and appreciate Gen. Muhamadu Buhari for constituting the long-awaited board and making a credible Bayelsan the Managing Director, Hon. Samuel Ogbuku,” they asserted.

This was contained in a statement by its
National Coordinator, Comrade Covidolor, and made available to a Congress correspondent on Friday.

According to the group, the appointment of Lauretta as chairman is unacceptable and condemnable, stressing that Delta Ijaws is yet to taste the position of the NDDC chairman from the inception of the commission.

Comrade Covidolor said Ijaw felt being shortchanged, adding that they were marginalized, deprived, and relegated to the background in this singular erroneous appointment.

The statement read: “Making Mrs. Lourietta Chairman of the NDDC is not just an insult but, a heavy slap to the Delta Ijaws. The Ijaw Communities in Delta State produce the highest barrel of crude oil compared to other ethnic groups in the state yet, we have been treated as second-class citizens.

“At this premise, we are calling on Mr. President to quickly replace Mrs. Lauretta with a Delta Ijaw man irrespective of political affiliation without further delay else, all members of the aforementioned group will take the bull by the horn.

“It has come to our understanding that Mr. President is taking our simplicity for granted and we are not going to fold our hands, we will no longer sleep with our two eyes closed until Mr. president makes a U-turn by appointing an Ijaw man from Delta State.

“Mrs. Lauretta has never been in the Niger Delta Niger struggle, she doesn’t understand the struggle, she hasn’t contributed any quota for the betterment of the Niger Delta, and she doesn’t know our needs and priorities. Therefore, she will only use any available funds in the agency to enrich herself and abandon the primary aim of the NDDC if screened and inaugurated.

“We know how to communicate our burdens to the Federal Government and if Mr. President refused to give us a listening ear, we will use the normal language from the creeks of Niger Delta and the Federal Government will hear from us sharply,” the group retorted.