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How Amaechi Unilaterally Influenced NDDC Board Appointment

January 28, 2019

According to credible sources, it was the old memo which Buhari was advised against consenting to, that Amaechi handed over to Femi Adesina, the president’s spokesman, prevailing on the latter to announce the dissolution of the NDDC board. Adesina was said to have thought he was carrying out the President’s order.

Emerging reports have shown that Rotimi Amaechi, Nigeria's Minister for Transport, is the brain behind the dissolution of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) board and the appointment of Professor Nelson Brambaifa as the acting Managing Director of the commission.

Brambaifa was appointed MD of the board on Friday.

SaharaReporters gathered that Amaechi bypassed Boss Mustapha, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, to dissolve the NDDC board. He is said to have sought for the removal of Mene Derek, reputed to be an ally of Magnus Abe.

According to a source, the Transport Minister wrote a memo to President Muhammadu Buhari sometime back, requesting the dissolution of the board. This was said to have been overridden by Mustapha, who based his position on the fact that the offices are tenured, and thus advised against the dissolution.

He was said to have immediately set in motion his planned upset in the composition of NDDC board from the moment he got wind of Nsima Ekere’s presence in the presidency, when the former Managing Director of the agency went to tender his resignation.

On Friday, January 25, 2019, Ekere was at the presidency to submit his resignation letter, and to thank Buhari for giving him the opportunity to serve. Ekere is the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Akwa Ibom State.

Amaechi was said to have gone to the presidency with an old memo earlier assented to by the President, before the attention of the President was drawn to the impropriety of acceding to Amaechi's earlier request for the dissolution of the NDDC board. 

According to credible sources, it was the old memo which Buhari was advised against consenting to, that Amaechi handed over to Femi Adesina, the president’s spokesman, prevailing on the latter to announce the dissolution of the NDDC board. Adesina was said to have thought he was carrying out the President’s order.

The announcement, which came through some online media portals and social media sites, has been generating negative responses from across the Niger Delta. Some Niger Deltans are of the opinion that since Ekere's tenure is expected to expire by 2021, his replacement in the light of his resignation, should have come from Akwa Ibom where the outgone MD hails from, as stipulated by the act on completion of tenure. By procedure, the Executive Director, Finance and Administration, should have acted as Managing Director till such a time a replacement is appointed and confirmed by the Senate. 

In the light of this, Amaechi was said to have chosen to go for the dissolution of the entire board, rather than single Derek out for removal, thus acting in complete violation of the act establishing the NDDC.

Attempts to reach the Minister of Transport and his media aide were unsuccessful, as they were unreachable for comments.