Godswill Akpabio
Nigerian government set to tackle oil, gas infrastructure vandalism with skills acquisition
The Federal Government has expressed plans to create a reorientation programme aimed at engaging the youth in skills acquisition to address oil and gas infrastructure vandalism. The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Sen. Godswill Akpabio, stated this at a Town Hall Meeting on “Protecting Oil and Gas Infrastructure” on Monday in Abuja. Newsmen report that the town hall meeting was organised by the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture. Akpabio said that the programme would be targeted at the pupils and students of primary and secondary school across the nine states in Niger Delta. He explained that the Federal Government was currently meeting with stakeholders, traditional rulers, youth groups and all others from one state to the other. “We are setting up skills acquisition centres, we...
APC group suspends Senator Akpabio as national coordinator
The Minister for Niger Delta, Senator Godswill Akpabio, has been suspended by the Presidential Support Committee (PSC), a political support group of the All Progressive Progressives Congress (APC) as the National Coordinator. Akpabio was suspended for inactivity and poor leadership by the national delegates at their National General Meeting and Merit Award held yesterday at Barcelona Hotel, Abuja. The National Facilitator of the committee, Mr Gideon Samanni and the organisation’s Director of Media, Dr Kalaini Mohammed, announced the suspension in a joint statement. They said the suspension was necessitated to ensure the survival and revitalisation of the organisation. PSC raised an outcry that the group was gradually drifting into oblivion even though it supported the APC and the re-electi...
Group urges President Buhari to suspend NDDC forensic audit
The South South Reawakening Group, has called for the immediate suspension of the ongoing forensic audit of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), describing it as a “circus of corruption”. Converner of the group, Joseph Ambakederimo, in a statement, urged President Muhammadu Buhari to appoint a board for the NDDC to start a new phase for the development of the region. According to them, it was no longer news that the forensic audit ordered by the President has now been turned into “a circus for mismanagement and misappropriation of public funds to oil the machinery of political interests of a few, while the region and its people continue to suffer the perpetual psychological torture of these buccaneers.” The group recalled that the NDDC is still presently being run by an interim s...
Niger Delta: President Buhari has surpassed all past presidents – NYCN
National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) on Sunday said that President Muhammadu Buhari has surpassed all past Presidents of the country in the development of the Niger Delta region. The Council said the array of projects that now littered the coastal area was however made possible by the current Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio. The youths, therefore, warned the region’s politicians against blackmailing Buhari and Akpabio. The youths also threw their weight behind the interim sole administrator of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Effiong Akwa for his prudent, transparent, and frugal management of resources which they said witnessed the execution of the projects within a short period of time. In a communiqué issued after a 3-week tour and assessment o...
NDDC: Ijaw youths tackle minister over forensic audit, sole administrator’s tenure
Bayelsa youths under the aegis of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) worldwide accused the minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio of overseeing an unending forensic audit and illegal extension of the tenure of the sole administrator of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mr. Efiong Akwa, describing it as a delib-erate attempt to delay the constitution of a substantive NDDC board. According to the youths, though the conduct of the forensic audit was ordered by President Muhammadu Buhari and supported by the stakeholders from the region, Senator Godswill Akpabio has turned the forensic audit into an unending exercise used to perpetuate corruption and further bleed the commission of scarce funds. The spokesman of the IYC, Comrade Ebilade Ekerefe, who made the statement...
Niger Delta agitators urges South South governors to work with Senator Akpabio to develop region
A coalition of Niger Delta agitators, weekend, called on governors of South South to work with Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, to develop Niger Delta region and its people. The group meanwhile, called out governors of Niger Delta states, saying recent revelation by Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, that they (governors) collected N100 million each as Covid-19 palliative has exposed their hypocrisy. Chairman, Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, Senator Patrick Ayo Akinyelure, last week, told reporters in Abuja that NDDC officials told the committee that each of the nine governors of the Niger Delta states got N100 million as Covid-19 palliatives. Coordinator of the 21st Century Youths of Niger Delta and Agitators with Conscience, 2...
President Buhari wants rapport between NDDC, National Assembly sustained
President Muhammadu Buhari has lauded the cordial relationship existing between the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and the National Assembly. The president, who spoke on Thursday at the virtual commissioning of the NDDC headquarters building in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, called for such relationship for the development of the Niger Delta region. While commending the management and staff of the NDDC for staying the course and keying into the reform agenda of his administration, President Buhari said: “I am particularly pleased to note the cordial relationship between the NDDC and the National Assembly and hope that this relationship will be strengthened further for the benefit of the people of the Niger Delta region.” He said: “I, therefore, use this opportunity to ...
Former NAF chief Nsikak Eduok laid to rest in Akwa Ibom
It was a harvest of tributes for a former Chief of Air Staff, late Air Marshall Nsikak Eduok as his remains were laid to rest in his hometown in Ibesikpo Asutan, Akwa Ibom state on Saturday. Chief of Air Staff, Oladayo Amao who spoke at the Ibom Hall grounds Uyo during the funeral service conducted by United Evangelical Church, Founded as Qua Iboe Church, described late AM Eduok as a man of valour, integrity and a great achiever with unprecedented strive for success. Based on these sterling attributes, the Force has decided to immortalise him by naming Ultrafit Gymnasium center at the Nigerian Air Force Base Yola after him. According to him, late Eduok was one of the best hands the force had, one who changed the landscape of the service and was mentor to many retired and serving officers. ...
Ijaw youths block East-West road over NDDC
Pool Photo The ripples over the appointment of a sole administrator for the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) reached a boiling point on Monday as hundreds of Ijaw youths blocked the popular East-West road, causing many travellers to be stranded. The youths under the aegis of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) said the protest was for the immediate removal of the Sole Administrator, Mr Effiong Okon Awa, and the inauguration of the substantive board. The protest held travellers stranded for hours and attempts by some armed soldiers backed by an Armoured Personnel Carrier and led by a Major to persuade the protesters to leave the East-West road proved abortive. A plea by a former Secretary to Bayelsa State Government and ex-Nigerian Ambassador to the Scandinavian countries, Dr Godknows Iga...
Senator Akpabio denies accusing National Assembly members of NDDC contracts fraud
The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, Tuesday, denied that he accused members of the National Assembly of fraud concerning contracts from the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC. The minister had, during an investigative hearing at the House of Representatives, claimed that 60 percent of NDDC contracts went to the federal lawmakers. However, as the House threatened to initiate a criminal complaint of perjury and explore the possibility of a civil defamation suit against him, Akpabio denied he ever referred to members of the 9th House of Representatives as beneficiaries of contracts in NDDC. He noted that NDDC was yet to fully implement any budget since the commencement of the 9th National Assembly. Also, Akpabio while responding to questions after a visit to t...
Senator Akpabio: FEC approves 8 field forensic auditors for NDDC
Determined to clean up the rot in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NCDC), the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs Wednesday got the approval for the appointment of eight Forensic Auditors who will work in the field in the Niger Delta region. This much was disclosed Wednesday in Abuja by the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, while briefing State House Correspondents after the 13th virtual Federal Executive Council (FEC) meetings presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at Council Chambers, State House, Abuja. According to the Minister, “Ministry of Niger Delta presented a memo to the Federal Executive Council and at the end of the deliberations, the memo was approved. The memo is basically the appointment of Field Forensic Auditors to undertake the forensic au...
Senator Akpabio: NDDC received N15 trillion in 19 years
The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, has faulted the National Assembly inquest into the financial activties of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) between February and July 2020 rather than embark on a comprehensive probe of the interventionist agency’s 19 years of existence. The NDDC, he stated, received over N15 trillion in the last 19 years, with nothing on the ground to justify the huge funds, wondering why the lawmakers decided to probe five months’ activities in the commission. Speaking when members of the Independent Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) visited him in Abuja, Thursday, he noted that discretionary probe would not address the problem of the commission, which he described as cesspit of corruption. He, however, assured Niger Delta ...
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