#TrackNigeria -A leading advocacy group in the South-South, the Niger Delta Progressives, has cautioned mischief makers to desist from spreading false information about the executive management of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, in the mass media.
In a press statement signed by the President of the Niger Delta Progressives, Chief Akpos Monday Ebilagha, and the secretary, Chief Ziakede Tonde Indiana, the group described as mischievous a report in an online publication, claiming that the Acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Professor Nelson Brambaifa and the Acting Executive Director Finance and Administration, Dr Chris Amadi, were quizzed by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, over some tenuous charges.
The Niger Delta group posited that the claims were “preposterous and far from the truth as the NDDC executives were in Abuja on a routine consultation with the relevant supervisory bodies.”
They wondered why the media should portray such official engagements as a probe of the activities of the interventionist agency. The group advised: “The media should cross check their facts before rushing to press, as recourse to sensationalism could undermine current efforts aimed at repositioning the Niger Delta Region in the critical areas of infrastructural development and peace building.”
The statement noted that the online medium that published the story admitted that the anti-corruption agency could not confirm the spurious report. The EFCC spokesperson, Mr Tony Orilade, was quoted as saying that he was unaware of the matter.
The Niger Delta Progressives affirmed that the NDDC Chief Executive Officer, a Professor of Pharmacology, was a thorough bred academic with a vision to transform the Niger Delta in the shortest possible time.
According to them, “he served as the Commissioner representing Bayelsa State on the Board of the NDDC before he was elevated as the Acting Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer following the dissolution of the Board.
“His appointment, by President Muhammadu Buhari, is a testimony to his humility, frugality and strength of character. In the last three months of his being at the helm of affairs at the NDDC, Brambaifa has demonstrated his unalloyed commitment to the mission and vision of the organisation by his words and deeds.”
They recalled that the NDDC boss recently commenced an inspection tour of the Commission’s projects across the Niger Delta region, where he emphasised that the interventionist agency would only pay for quality jobs. They quoted him as saying: “We can’t compromise on quality. Before we pay for any job, we carry out evaluation to make sure that they meet specifications.”
