South South Governors Meet in Port Harcourt.

In Nigeria, the South-South Governors of the Niger Delta met again in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

The meeting of the South-South Governors was presided over by the Forum’s Chairman, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, and attended by the Governors of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, Bayelsa State, Duoye Diri, Akwa Ibom State, Emmanuel Udom, and Edo State, Godwin Obaseki. As usual, the Gov of Cross River State was missing.

Speaking after their meeting in Government House, Port Harcourt, Rivers state capital on Monday, October 4, 2021, the Chairman of the South-South Governors forum, Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, expressed hope that the federal government would make the forensic audit report public and “deal justly and fairly with the report in order to strengthen the capacity of NDDC to meet its responsibilities.”

See also 2023;Northern Governors Counter their Southern Counterparts.

Remember that earlier this year, the Governors of the South-South States stated unequivocally that the current sole administrator/interim contraptions in NDDC do not comply with the NDDC Act, which requires representation of the constituent states, speaking for the agitated and deprived people of the oil-rich Niger Delta region.

The South-South Governors, who have consistently condemned the NDDC’s operation in violation of the enabling law that established the Commission, have stated that this does not bode well for the people of the Niger Delta because there is no opportunity for all states to be represented in the NDDC’s board of directors, as they should be.

Recall that other critical stakeholders, such as the Ijaw National Congress (INC), the umbrella body of the Ijaw nation worldwide, recently warned in a statement issued on September 10, 2021 that “any further delay in the inauguration of the NDDC board is a clear betrayal of trust and display of State insensitivity on the Ijaw nation and Niger Delta region.”

This follows President Buhari’s commitment to the Ijaw National Congress on June 24, 2021, in the State House in Abuja, that the NDDC Board would be inaugurated as soon as the forensic audit report was completed and accepted.

Senator Godswill Akpabio, Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, has submitted the report of the forensic audit of the NDDC to President Buhari since September 2, 2021.

More than a month after the submission of the forensic audit report, tensions in the Niger Delta region are rising due to the Commission’s failure to appoint members to its board of directors.