Protesters barricade East-West road over alleged  NDDC appointment marginalisation

Nathan Tamarapreye, Yenagoa

Protesters on Wednesday blocked the East-West Road from the Ughelli axis in Delta, demanding the appointment of a Delta indigene as the next Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

The scores of protesters under the group, Niger Delta People’s Assembly stormed the busy highway as early as 7:00 am to commence their peaceful demonstration.

The peaceful protest resulted in heavy gridlock on both sides of the expressway.

They called for justice and fair representation in the leadership of the commission.

The protesters were armed with placards bearing inscriptions like, “Abuse of the NDDC act is the catalyst of crisis in the Niger Delta region, and “President Tinubu acts now to save the nation,” among others.”

Addressing newsmen, Mr Charles Ejor, the Coordinator of the Niger Delta People’s Assembly decried the marginalization of Delta in the leadership of the interventionist agency.

Ejor said that despite the state’s critical role in the oil sector and its significant contributions to the nation’s economy, Delta had been continually excluded from holding the position of the Managing Director in NDDC.

He said that the group had sometimes written President Bola Tinubu to intervene and ensure the leadership of the commission was distributed fairly as outlined in the NDDC Act.

According to Ejor, Section 12, subsection 1(d) of the NDDC Act, the Managing Director and Executive Directors should come from oil-producing areas, and rotate among states in order of oil production.

“With the recent expiration of the tenure of Dr Samuel Ogbuku as Managing Director of NDDC, it is now the turn of a Delta indigene to assume the position.

“The exclusion of Delta from this critical leadership position is unjust and goes against the NDDC Act.

“Delta has contributed immensely to the nation’s growth, especially in the oil sector, and it is only fair that we are given our rightful place in the leadership of the NDDC,” Ejor said.

Also speaking, Mr Samuel Obada frowned at the continuous neglect of Delta in the leadership of the NDDC.

“We come out in a peaceful protest because we are bitter about the marginalisation of Delta in NDDC appointments,” he said.

The protesters, however, called on President Tinubu to urgently address the systemic marginalisation and guarantee Delta the rightful place in the NDDC leadership.