The Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Dr Samuel Ogbuku, has called on the Rivers Ijaw People’s Congress and other Niger Deltans to support the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to promote peace and development in the Niger Delta region.
The NDDC Managing Director, Dr Samuel Ogbuku, stated this when a delegation from the Rivers Ijaw Peoples’ Congress paid him a courtesy visit at the Commission’s Headquarters in Port Harcourt.
The NDDC Chief Executive Officer stated that the Commission was open to all ethnic nationalities in the Niger Delta region, noting that its mandate was to serve the people and ensure sustainable development of all communities in the area.
Ogbuku advised: “Let us collaborate with the government to enthrone peace and facilitate societal growth. The government needs peace, and there is bound to be development where there is peace.
“As a people, I want us to support the present administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to ensure that we partner with the government in the centre to attract more development to our people in the Niger Delta region.
“We should be able to prove that we can support the Federal Government to stop crude oil theft so that the economy of Nigeria will be more prosperous.”
Ogbuku, assured that the Commission would focus on completing capital projects that would add value to the Niger Delta Region. He said: “Our commitment is to work together towards transforming the region.
Ogbuku noted that President Tinubu had charged the NDDC to complete and commission signature projects that would impact the lives of Niger Deltans. Following this directive, he said, the Commission recently inaugurated five flagship projects covering roads, bridges and electricity across the region.
He stated: “The NDDC commissioned the 9km Obehie-Oke-Ikpe road in Ukwa West LGA, Abia State; the 27.5-kilometre Ogbia -Nembe Road, constructed in partnership with Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC; the 1×15MVA 33/11KV electricity injection substation in Amufi, Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area in Benin City, Edo State; the 45km double-circuit 33KV feeder line from Omotosho Power Station to Okitipupa, Ondo State and the NDDC 6km Iko-Atabrikang-Akata-Opulom-Ikot Inwang-Okoroutip-Iwochang Road and the 600m Ibeno Bridge in Ibeno LGA, Akwa Ibom State.
In an address read on behalf of the Rivers Ijaw group, the delegation leader, Senator George Thompson Sekibo, stated that President Tinubu’s appointment of Ogbuku as the NDDC Chief Executive Officer was a vote of confidence.
He said that the Rivers Ijaw People’s Congress aimed to provide a platform for development and a rallying point for the Ijaw people in 11 local government areas in Rivers State.
In his remarks, the NDDC Executive Director Finance and Administration, Alabo Boma Iyaye, commended the delegation for promoting peace and progress in the Niger Delta region. He noted that the people had demonstrated their commitment to peace as a prerequisite for development.
