NDDC: Group urges Senate to confirm new board

Benin, Oct. 10, 2019

A socio-political group, the Benin Movement for Change (BMC), has urged the Senate to confirm President Muhammadu Buhari’s nominees into the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
Mr Edogiawere Igbinosa, the National Coordinator of the group made the call at a news conference in Benin on Thursday.
Igbinosa faulted Chief Rita Lori-Ogbebor’s call on the Senate not to confirm the appointment of Dr Pius Odubu and Mr Benard Okumagba as Chairman and Managing Director of the NDDC board.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Lori-Ogbebor is a rights activist and the Igba of Warri Kingdom in Delta State.
He also urged the Senate not to be swayed by Lori-Ogbebor’s call.
Igbinosa said Lori-Ogbebor might be an in-law to the Benins, but that did not confer on her the right to talk about who is qualified for federal appointment from the state or Delta.
He said both Odubu and Okumagba hail from oil producing areas of their respective states.
According to him, the group is taken aback by such comments credited to Lori-Ogbebor.
“For the information of the public, Odubu is eminently qualified for the position of Chairman of the board of the NDDC. He hails from Orhionmwon Local Government Area (LGA) of the state that houses the largest gas reserve in West Africa.
“We, in Edo, are in support of the nomination and it is our turn to produce Chairman of the NDDC Board since it is done on rotational basis among the oil producing states.
“Edo people and other states are happy with Odubu because they know good days are here,” he said.