The All Progressives Congress (APC) Delta South Forum, has again written to President Bola Tinubu, asking when the ‘deliberate unconscionable exclusion’ of the Ijaw, Itsekiri, and Isoko of Delta South Senatorial district would stop.
The forum advised Tinubu to address what it called ‘political-appointment-marginalization’ against Ijaw, Itsekiri, and Isoko Delta South Senatorial district.
This is coming at a time Tinubu appointed Dr. Samuel Ogbuku from Bayelsa State as the new Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, and Mr. Chiedu Ebie from Delta State as Chairman of the Commission’s Board.
Reacting to the appointment in a statement sent to Vanguard, Chief Lucky J. Esigie, JP, (Chairman/Isoko), Amb Felix Datuowei, (Co-chairman/Ijaw), and Mr Evans Omatsoguwa, (Co-chairman/Itsekiri, queried the appointment, asking, ‘Is the exclusion of Delta South from major political appointments and, in particular, of the Ijaw, Itsekiri and Isoko, a top secret policy of the APC government?’.
Read the full statement below:
“Yesterday, the Federal Government announced the members of the newly reconstituted board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). Of particular interest to us are the members from Delta State, whose turn it is to produce the chairman. Mr Chiedu Ebie and Rt Hon Monday Igbuya were nominated for confirmation to the positions of Chairman and Delta State Representative, respectively. These are qualified gentlemen for any political position in the land and we would ordinarily just be extending our congratulations to them. We also applaud President Tinubu for promptly reconstituting the board in order to bring to an end the uncertainty and chaos of interminable acting management teams which have paralysed the Commission in the last three years.
“As these appointments follow the pattern since 2015, we are constrained, however, to express our outrage that the Ijaw, Itsekiri and Isoko of Delta South senatorial district, the preponderant oil and gas producing area and host to many critical production and export infrastructure have, once again, been inexplicably overlooked while Delta North and Delta Central have been predictably favoured.
“It is as if there is a “Top Secret” government policy to exclude foundation and other long-standing party members from political appointments, especially if they are Ijaw, Itsekiri and Isoko. For how else to explain the nearly unbroken pattern of their exclusion? We have PLEADED to no avail with former President Muhammadu Buhari and President Bola Tinubu on 7 July 2021 (Vanguard, page 30); 25 March 2022 (also in Vanguard); 1 December 2022 (in The Nation and Vanguard); 29 May 2023 (Vanguard, page G6); and 17 July 2023 (Vanguard, page 24). Our case is a plea for fairness and equity in the political appointments due to Delta State. We have no animosity towards any member of our party and, indeed, resent the fact that we have cause to speak so repeatedly of the contemptuous exclusion of our people.
“At this point, our people are asking questions we cannot answer:
“Has Delta South been excised from APC’s political map and have the Ijaw, Itsekiri and Isoko been excommunicated from the party? What offence have they committed to warrant this punishment and why have they not been given an opportunity to defend themselves against it?
“Is the exclusion of Delta South from major political appointments and, in particular, of the Ijaw, Itsekiri and Isoko, a top secret policy of the APC government?
“Why are the foundation and other long-standing and loyal members of the party being so consistently overlooked in favour of the newer members, the so-called defectors or “decampees,” some of them joining the party only on the eve of the last general elections and some joining, returning to their former party and returning as they please?
“Are the newer members the proverbial “beautiful young brides,” come with the power and influence of the “dowries” from their rich parent party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and the loyal members who have been toiling with their paltry personal resources to keep the party afloat for them to join the “poor, old and ugly wives” of APC in Delta State?
“What must the scorned and spited members of the party in Delta South do before the injustice being done to them will stop: leave the party in anger and join PDP, then DECAMP to APC?
“Is the national leadership of the party, as headed by former President Buhari and now President Tinubu, bent on provoking the unhappy and disgruntled members of the party in Delta South into open or violent expression of their deep-seated anger?
“Is their unrelenting marginalisation aimed at telling them in very clear terms that they are not wanted in the party?
“How are the embittered members to retain their passion and dedication to the party, come 2027, and for how long will they labour and sacrifice but have no reward in any way commensurate with their loyalty?
“It is possible that President Tinubu, a man who believes in equity, fairness and reward of party loyalty, may have been WRONGLY advised, especially as Delta South, owing to its marginalisation, has no highly placed person in the corridors of power. Mr President may have been told that the “Chairman” of the NDDC board does not have to be from an oil producing community.
“But this is wrong as it is clearly against the spirit, if not letter, of the enabling law and the intention of parliament in establishing the commission whose predecessor was remarkably named the Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC).
“First, it would be odd for the law to insist that the Managing Director, the two executive directors and the state representatives be indigenes of oil producing communities while excluding the head of the Commission, the Chairman of the board, from that requirement.
“Obviously, Section 4 of the enabling Act is only concerned with the order of appointment to the office — that it follow an alphabetical order, as distinct from quantum of production for the managing and executive directors in Section 12. Thus, it is implicit in the Act that the Chairman must also be from an oil-bearing area. The law was specifically enacted to address the peculiar needs of the nation’s oil producing region. This means that its inhabitants must also be the primary beneficiaries. Why would it be necessary to look beyond the oil-producing communities without first ascertaining that an individual with the particular training, skills, experience and character of chairman of the board could not be found among the indigenes of the oil-bearing communities?
“We, the undersigned leaders of APC Delta South Senatorial District 3is Forum, have written to President Tinubu twice but have so far been totally ignored. Twice, also, has Delta North (remarkably, its non-oil producing communities) been preferred at the expense of Delta South since the chairmanship position became Delta’s due. The message our people get is that President Tinubu (and President Buhari before him) does not care about the Ijaw, Itsekiri and Isoko of Delta South. Not to mince words, they feel betrayed. The time to convince them otherwise is NOW.
“For above all things, we do not want our people to remember the “Renewed Hope” promise of this new APC government as a betrayal of their hope from the onset. We are, therefore, renewing our hope that President Tinubu, as a listening leader, will HEAR our very LOUD cry and end the INJUSTICE to the Ijaw, Itsekiri and Isoko of Delta South”.
