…Says ‘I’m Ashamed’
…Lauds Wike For Defending Oath Of Office
The federal lawmaker representing Khana/Gokana Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon Robinson Dumnamene Dekor says the degree of mess the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has been turned into is shocking and shameful.
This is sequel to the baffling revelations of the looting spree at the Commission as the Acting Managing Director of the Commissioner, Prof Kemebradikumo Pondei faced the House of Representatives Committee probing the N81.5bn allegedly mismanaged by the interim management committee between December 2019 and June this year.
Rt. Hon. Dekor said the NDDC looting was nothing short of rape on the people Niger Delta even by their own people who connived in the glaring abandonment of the core mandate of the commission to develop the area, preferring to enrich themselves at the expense of the people.
According to the federal lawmaker, the rape on the Niger Delta through the NDDC appears to be enjoyed by ‘all of us’.
He said it’s shocking that the leaders, youth groups, student bodies etc scattered all over the region have suddenly become deaf and dumb in the face of the massive looting of the commission established to see to both infrastructural and human capital development of the area.
“I now know that no one anywhere is marginalizing us. I am ashamed,” Rt. Hon. Dekor declared.
Meanwhile, the member representing Khana/Gokana Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Dumnamene Robinson Dekor has applauded Governor Nyesom Wike for his timely intervention in the foiled unlawful attempt to arrest the former Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Dr. Joi Nunieh Thursday by armed security operatives.
Rt. Hon. Dekor said but for the timely and necessary intervention of Gov Wike, the ugly episode might have incited a more serious situation in the state than the security operatives could envisage.
This, according to the Federal Lawmaker has further demonstrated that Governor Wike is a true leader who understands the deeper meaning of his oath of office as the Chief servant of the state and not of any political party.
The Ogoni born federal lawmaker, and former Commissioner of Works in Rivers State said if the former NDDC MD who is a staunch member of the federal government-led All Progressives Congress (APC) were a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), political opponents would have taken advantage of the exemplary display of leadership and statesmanship by the Governor to accuse him of partisanship.
But by coming out in defense of this noble daughter of the State irrespective of party affiliation, Rt. Hon. Dumnamene Dekor noted, His Excellency has again proved his uncommon leadership trait and willingness to ensure that the fundamental human rights of all Rivers people are respected without necessarily encouraging them to disrespect the law or constituted authorities.
On the siege laid on the residence of Dr Joi Nunieh by armed Policemen, Rt. Dum Dekoor said the action by the law enforcement agents who ought to lead the way beats every sense of reason and has shown that ‘we still live in a kind of brutish environment’.
If this could happen to a person of Dr Nunieh’s status as a former NDDC Managing Director, who is not before any court of law or anti-graft agency for any wrong doing, how much more and safe are ordinary Nigerians, the federal lawmaker wondered.
He called on Mr President as a matter of urgent public importance to intervene to unravel the mystery of the unfolding drama in the NDDC and the concomitant issues which tend to threaten the little that is left of the nation’s integrity before it’s completely eroded as the citizens’ rights are regularly trampled upon as though ‘we live in an animal kingdom’.
Rt. Hon Dumnamene Dekor opined that if Dr. Nunieh is needed for any reasons, there are better and lawful means of inviting her than breaking into her house by over 50 armed security operatives acting in a military commando manner as though she is a common criminal.
“Honestly it is very, very condemnable. We are not living in a police state. We are free Nigerians who have every right. I am surprised because in the first place, Dr. Joi Nunieh is my constituent and that is why I am particularly touched. She has been roundly intimidated for quite some time now. But the peak of it is what happened this morning”, the federal lawmaker regretted.
On the NDDC, Rt. Hon. Dekor said the agency is a sham. He regretted that the commission that was established to address the multiple development challenges of the Niger Delta has ended up as a conduit to siphon all the monies meant for that purpose into the private pockets of greedy and incompetent lots.
The federal lawmaker described the many years of the establishment of the commission as wasted, with practically nothing meaningful to show for all the monies earmarked for development all over the Niger Delta.
“If the President is interested in ensuring that NDDC functions and they want to do a proper audit, I don’t think most of these characters who are running the place and who are even supervising them are supposed to be doing that,” Rt. Hon. Dumnamene Dekor declared.
He therefore called on the federal government to look for true Nigerians, true Niger Deltans who have the competences and also have the integrity to get into that place ‘so we can have an NDDC that is going to run the place and build the place for all of us to live. If not, what we see now, we are just like wasting our time’.
