A militant group, the 21st Century Youths of the Niger Delta and Agitators with Conscience (21st CYNDAC), has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for averting the truncation of the forensic audit of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) by some disgruntled stakeholders of the region.
The group in an electronic mail on Tuesday by its Coordinator, ‘General’ Izon Ebi, described the appointment of Mr Effiong Akwa, former Acting Executive Director (Finance and Administration) of the NDDC as the Interim Chairman of the commission as thoughtful and commendable.
The group said Akwa’s appointment by President Buhari to oversee the affairs of the commission until the end of the ongoing forensic audit of the intervention agency was a laudable move to rekindle the hope and belief that Buhari is resolute to ensure that Niger Delta people shame those that looted the NDDC to comatose, to the detriment of the region.
It averred that Akwa is a Niger Delta son and leader that had been able to distinguish himself and show capacity, saying that as a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and a solicitor/barrister of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, Akwa qualifies for the job.
The group recalled that the administration of the commission, since it was handed over to the IMC by President Buhari had been faced with stiff opposition from various categories of stakeholders in the region.
It rationalised that the varying allegations, including financial impropriety, leveled against the IMC and its leadership, leading to a National Assembly’s probe and a shortlived face-off between the federal lawmakers and the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs on the one hand, and the IMC on the other hand, were all tactics to truncate the forensic audit.
The 21st CYNDAC said the threat to destroy oil installations by some militants and the objection by the Minority Leader of the National Assembly did not hold any grounds because Niger Deltans are fully in support of the forensic audit.
It said the development that led to the appointment of Akwa was necessitated by a plethora of litigations and a restraining order issued recently against the IMC of the NDDC by a Federal High Court in Abuja.
The group said: “The forensic audit of the commission ordered by President Muhammadu Buhari must be satisfactorily carried out based on the need to set a good precedent for the incoming substantive administration to follow. If the forensic audit of the commission fails, it means the purveyors of administrative rascality and corrupt tendencies would continue to strive. It also means that the commission in itself would forever be run by a few to the detriment of all.
“Therefore, the current gang-up and stiff opposition against Mr Effiong Akwa is the last resort of the guilty to truncate the forensic audit which we must not allow succeeding.”