APC Chairmen Call For Akpabio’s Sack From Office

State Chairmen of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, have demanded the dismissal of Senator Godswill Akpabio from office as minister of Niger Delta Affairs upon his move to constitute an Interim Management Committee for the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC.

The state chairmen allege that the move is against the spirit of the decision of President Muhammadu Buhari to constitute a new board for the commission. The nominations of the new board was formally announced on the Senate floor last Tuesday.

The move which the chairmen say is an embarrassment to the party is opening up a power play in the Niger Delta region as stakeholders allege that it is a move by Akpabio to hijack the NDDC.

In that regards, the APC state chairmen have called on the president to return the supervision of the board to the presidency from Akpabio’s Niger Delta Affairs.

A statement issued by the chairmen through their chairman, Ali Bukar Dolar and secretary, Ben Nwoye also called into question Akpabio’s overt interest in the management of the commission.

The move GWG learnt is being spearheaded by concerned stakeholders from the South-South region where interests in the inauguration of the new board is now divided.

While some want the board immediately in place, many others are opposed on the claim that it violated ethnic and traditional norms.

The statement from the APC chairmen read in part:

“We see the Minister as a clog in the wheel of progress. He has vested interest to annex the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) as a unit of the Niger Delta Ministry where he is the Minister.

“We query the rationale behind Akpabio’s hastened moves to impose an illegal Interim Management Committee in breach of the NDDC act.

“What does Akpabio intend to achieve by hurriedly appointing the committee whereas, he Akpabio is aware of President Muhammadu Buhari’s appointment of a substantive board who are currently undergoing confirmation screening by the Senate?

“We view a situation where a Minister exhibits crass insubordination to the office and person of the President, who appointed him as minister, as a national embarrassment.

“We are irked by the conflicting orders one exercised by the President and Commander in Chief who effectively discharged his powers in accordance with the provisions of section 2(2)(a) of the Niger Delta Development Commission, (NDDC) ( Establishment) Act, 2000 by appointing eminent Nigerians into the governing board of the NDDC as read by the President of Senate, Dr. Ahmad Lawan in plenary only for Godswill Akpabio to appear on a national television in the evening of same day to announce a three man committee to run the affairs of the NDDC which President Buhari has earlier appointed qualified Nigerians to oversee via his executive communication to the Senate seeking for confirmation of the nominees.

“We call on the President to sack Senator Godswill Akpabio without delay, before he causes more embarrassment to this government and malign his hard earned reputation with his uncommon illegalities.

“We  call on President Buhari to reverse the order delegating his statutory regulatory powers of the NDDC to the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs. The Minister’s conducts so far shows that the NDDC under the supervision of the Ministry will be counter-productive as such, the supervision of the NDDC should be returned back to the Presidency as it was before now.

“We call on the leadership of the National Assembly to exercise its constitutional powers to correct the lawlessness of the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs and ensure the immediate inauguration of the board upon confirmation by the Senate so as to curb the arbitrariness of a power drunk uncommon Minister and uphold the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

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