State of the Nation: PANDEF Release Fresh Communique

COMMUNIQUE ISSUED AT THE END OF AN EXTRAORDINARY MEETING OF PAN NIGER DELTA FORUM, PANDEF, HELD IN ABUJA ON 20TH OCTOBER, 2022.

An extraordinary meeting of the Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, was held In Abuja On Thursday, 20th October 2022. The meeting, which was chaired by the Forum’s National Leader & Elder Statesman, Chief Dr Edwin K. Clark OFR, CON, had in attendance members of the PANDEF Board of Trustees, the National Executive Committee (NEC) and State Executive Committees (SEC), as well as other critical stakeholders of the Niger Delta region, including Former Governors, Former Ministers, former members of the National Assembly, Traditional Rulers, former Ambassadors, Academics, Political and Business leaders, Civil Activists, Women and Youth Leaders.

The Meeting deliberated, extensively, on matters of critical concern to the Niger Delta region and the nation as well as issues about the 2023 General Elections, and the state of insecurity in the country.

Arising therefrom, the meeting resolved as follows:

A. The Devastating Flood Situation in some States:

PANDEF expresses great concern over the level of destruction reported, especially since more than 600 people have so far lost their lives in the ravaging floods. The disaster has also sacked millions from their homes and destroyed about three hundred thousand acres of farmland.

Further states shock and sadness over the massive devastation in the States of the Niger Delta, especially, Bayelsa State, which is now totally submerged, as well as Delta and Rivers States, where several communities are under threat of extinction, and possible recovery will be prolonged and expensive.

PANDEF empathizes with other Nigerians, all over the country, who have lost loved ones and property due to the ravaging floods.

PANDEF calls on President Muhammadu Buhari to visit Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers States, to access the level of damage and destruction, as is normally done, all over the world.

PANDEF further calls on the relevant agencies of the federal government as well as the international and indigenous oil companies, other corporate bodies and well-meaning individuals to come to the immediate aid of states affected by the flood, in the Niger Delta, to ameliorate their suffering.

PANDEF particularly calls on the Federal Ministry of Works, the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA), NDDC, the military and other relevant agencies of the federal government to immediately initiate repair works on the collapsed portions of the East-West Road, which have resulted in the isolation of the entire Bayelsa State from the rest of the country.

We further call on the Federal Ministry of Works to begin an assessment of the quality of work on the all-important East-West Road, which connects the oil-producing states of the country.

PANDEF also constitutes a Twelve-man Committee to coordinate its relief efforts for the flood victims.

And calls on the Federal Government to urgently undertake comprehensive technical studies and plans with timelines for a solution to this question of flooding including building new Dams like Zungeru and Kashimbila, as was undertaken by former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.

B. Crude Oil Theft and the Startling Revelations

PANDEF joins all well-meaning Nigerians to express total shock over the recent startling revelations of massive and systematic oil theft.

Commends the efforts of Chief Government Ekpemupolo (Tompolo) and the youths of the Niger Delta, who by their diligence and patriotic zeal, recently uncovered the mind-boggling mechanisms of those pillaging our oil resources.

With the admission by the management of the NNPC, of the existence of the sophisticated syndicate, which for several decades, has continued to siphon the wealth of the country; PANDEF calls for an apology to the people of the Niger Delta, who have been falsely accused over the years.

Urges the President as substantive Minister of Petroleum, to urgently take steps to launch a full-scale investigation into this matter, including constituting a Judicial Panel of Inquiry to ascertain the perpetrators of this outrageous thievery. THERE MUST BE NO SACRED COWS!

This huge state of oil theft further re-enforces our call for True Federalism to afford our people better participation in the operations and management of the wealth in the Niger Delta.

We further request the Federal Government to set up the mechanism for setting up modular refineries around the Niger Delta to bring an effective end to artisanal refining.

C. The Presidential Amnesty Programme

PANDEF cautions the federal government against any ill-advised plan to terminate the Presidential Amnesty Programme given the rumours that the government is scheduling to wind up the programme before the end of the Buhari administration;

The meeting further warns that considerations that the Presidential Amnesty programme could be scrapped due to a pipeline Surveillance contract awarded to a private firm, are not only illogical but unacceptable;

Notes that the Amnesty Programme was an intervention to promote peace and stability in the Niger Delta; thus, any attempt to prematurely end the programme would be detrimental to the peace and stability of the Niger Delta;

Going forward, the Amnesty Programme should be extended to include the full re-integration of all beneficiaries.

D. On the Niger Delta Development Commission

PANDEF received news of the sack of Mr. Effiong Okon Akwa, interim administrator of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) today (Thursday) and the subsequent appointment of Engr. Emmanuel Audu-Ohwavborua, from Delta State, to head the commission pending the appointment of a substantive management team and governing board.

PANDEF notes that Mr. Effiong Okon Akwa was the 3rd interim head of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in about three years; describes the situation as awful and hopes that the substantive management and governing board for the Commission will be constituted, in line with the NDDC Act, without further delay.

E. 2023 General Elections

On the forthcoming 2023 General Elections, particularly the presidency, PANDEF firmly reiterates the stance of the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum that the principle of zoning and power rotation between the North and the South remains sacrosanct.

Accordingly, maintains that the next president of Nigeria should come from the south and calls on all patriotic Nigerians, eligible voters, irrespective of region and religion, who cherish the peace, unity and stability of our country, to VOTE for a Southern candidate in the 2023 presidential election.
iii. PANDEF would, in due course, make known to the public its preferred candidate amongst the presidential candidates of Southern Extraction, after formal interaction with them.

Furthermore, PANDEF urges the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to sustain the recently recorded improvements in the nation’s electoral process and ensure that the 2023 Elections are free, fair, credible, and reflect the will of the Nigerian electorates, expressed through the votes cast, in all polling units, across the country.

F. Water Resources Bill

PANDEF condemns the insistence of the Federal Government to pursue its obnoxious Water Resources Bill and restates that it will be sternly resisted.

G. South-South Governors and Elected Officials

PANDEF again reminds the current South-South Governors, and incoming ones, as well as other elected officials, to be rededicated to good governance and unity on all issues about the region.

H. PANDEF notes the efforts of the National Assembly to amend certain Sections of the 1999 Constitution; urges that the process must be comprehensive in the direction of True Federalism.

I. The meeting expresses appreciation to its National Leader, Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark, OFR, CON, other leaders and the entire membership, for their continuous commitment to the peace and unity of the Niger Delta region and the enthronement of a fairer, more egalitarian Nigeria, where equity, justice and fairness reigns.

ISSUED AND ADOPTED IN ABUJA ON THIS 20TH DAY OF OCTOBER 2022.

Signed:

1. Chief (Dr.) Edwin Kiagbodo Clark, OFR, CON – National Leader
2. Senator Emmanuel Ibok Essien, FNSE – National Chairman
3. Senator Bassey Ewa Henshaw – Member, BOT
4. Dame Betty Igbeyi, mni – National Woman Leader
5. Chief Denzil Amagbe Kentebe – Member, Advisory Council
6. Ken Robinson – National Publicity Secretary

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