By ABUBAKAR YUNUS Abuja
A group, the Niger Delta Alliance for Economic Survival (NDAES) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to persuade the leadership of the Nigerian Senate to screen and confirm the nominees of the Board for the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
President Buhari had in November forwarded to the Senate the name of Mrs Lauretta Onochie, his Special Assistant on Social Media as Chairman as well as 14 others as members of the new Board of the interventionist agency, in line with the NDDC Act 2000.
The group, in a statement made available to The Explainer in Abuja on Sunday by its President, Tubonemi Chibisi, alleged that the leadership of the Senate had perfected plans to frustrate the screening and confirmation of the NDDC Board nominees sent to it for legislative duties.
Chibisi accused some powerful senators led by the Deputy Senate President, Senator Omo Ovie Agege of mounting pressure on the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan not to refer the NDDC Board nominees to the Committee for screening.
The statement reads in part: “It is very worrisome that the concern we had expressed that some top NDDC contractors and Management had planned to lobby the Senate to share the monthly allocation of the NDDC may become reality if the President, Muhammadu Buhari does not persuade the Senate President to immediately refer the nominees to the appropriate Committee for screening without further delay.
“It is sad that a fraudulent plan which was hatched by some contractors of the NDDC and its top Management had been found very enticing by the Deputy Senate President to reap from.”
The NDAES President stated that powerful members of the Senate have perfected plans with members of the House of Representatives to pass the NDDC budget so that they can share the money warehoused in the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN for the NDDC.
Chibisi further alleged that the leadership of the Senate was exploiting the omission of a representative for Delta State in the list forwarded to the Senate by the President to delay the screening unduly.
He said that the screening of the nominees could continue while the nomination of the Delta State Representative would be sent later.
The NDAES leader said: “This has never happened in the Senate before where an Executive communication is kept without referral to its appropriate Committee”.
He urged the Senate President to prove to the people of Niger Delta and Nigeria that he is not part of this conspiracy by immediately referring the list of the nominees to the Committee for screening just like the two CBN Deputy Governors nominees that were screened last week.
