President Muhammadu Buhari will inaugurate the new governing council Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) on Wednesday, according to sources in the commission.
The Managing Director of NDDC, Emmanuel Audu-Ohwavborua, on Tuesday morning held a valedictory meeting with the management staff to prepare for the handover to the new management.
Mr. Buhari appointed Mr. Audu-Ohwavborua in October 2022 to replace the former sole administrator of the commission, Effiong Akwa, who was relieved of his appointment.
Lauretta Onochie, a known loyalist of Mr. Buhari, is the new chairperson of the commission’s governing council.
Ms Onochie has been a special assistant to the president on new media, and was included in a controversial appointment to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in 2020.
He was appointed by Mr. Buhari as INEC commissioner to represent Delta State.
The appointment sparked a public outcry from civil groups and opposition parties who wrote petitions, staged protests and called on the Senate to reject Ms Onochie’s appointment.
Many have also declared his appointment unconstitutional – especially since he is partisan and openly campaigned for the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Although Ms Onochie told the Senate committee in INEC that she was out of politics in 2019 and that she was no longer a partisan – a statement that turned out to be false. The Senate rejected him in July.
However, the basis for rejecting him, is not to be partisan. The Senate said the appointment was rejected because it “violated the principle of federal character.”
READ ALSO: What Lauretta Onochie told the Senate panel during the screening
Other NDDC board members are Dimga Erugba (Abia), Emem Wills (Akwa Ibom), Dimaro Denyanbofa (Bayelsa), Adipati Orok (Cross River), Gbenga Edema (Ondo) and Elekwachi Dinkpa (Sungai).
Others are Mohammed Abubakar (Nasarawa), Sule-Iko Sani (Kebbi), Tahir Mamman (Adamawa), Samuel Ogbuku (Bayelsa) MD for two years, Charles Airhiavbere (Edo) Finance Director, and Charles Ogunmola (Ondo) Project Director.
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