Fresh details are emerging over the circumstances surrounding the dissolution of the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, and the subsequent appointment of Prof. Nelson Brambaifa as Acting Managing Director of the interventionist agency.
Sources familiar with developments at the time alleged that the then Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, played a major role in the decision to dissolve the board, reportedly acting without the backing of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha.
According to the sources, Amaechi had previously sought the removal of Derek L. Mene, then Executive Director, Finance and Administration of the NDDC.
Mene was regarded in some political circles as being close to Senator Magnus Abe, amid the intense political rivalry that had developed between Abe and Amaechi within the Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC.
Sources claimed that Amaechi had earlier forwarded a memo to President Muhammadu Buhari seeking the dissolution of the NDDC board.
The proposal was reportedly opposed by the SGF, who was said to have drawn attention to the tenured nature of the appointments and advised against dissolving the board without following the appropriate procedure.
Events reportedly took another turn on Friday, January 25, 2019, when the then NDDC Managing Director, Nsima Ekere, visited the Presidency to submit his resignation and formally thank President Buhari for the opportunity to serve.
Sources alleged that Ekere’s resignation prompted a fresh move concerning the composition of the NDDC leadership. According to the account, Amaechi subsequently went to the Presidency with an earlier memo that had received presidential approval on another aspect of the matter.
The sources further claimed that the document was presented to presidential spokesman Femi Adesina, who subsequently communicated the decision concerning the NDDC board, believing that the action had received the President’s approval.
The development immediately generated controversy across the Niger Delta, particularly among stakeholders who questioned the procedure adopted in replacing the outgoing NDDC leadership.
Some stakeholders argued that Ekere’s resignation did not automatically require the dissolution of the entire board. They maintained that, given the circumstances, the appropriate procedure would have been for the relevant executive director to assume an acting role pending the appointment and confirmation of a substantive managing director in accordance with the law establishing the commission.
The controversy was further heightened by the identities of those appointed to replace the outgoing officials.
Prof. Nelson Brambaifa, a Bayelsa-born academic, was appointed Acting Managing Director. His appointment attracted political reactions in the region, with some observers linking his emergence to his previous political association with Amaechi.
Critics also questioned the replacement of Derek Mene with Chris Oyirinda Amadi, particularly because of the political sensitivities surrounding the Rivers State APC at the time.
Mene, an Ogoni man, was regarded by some stakeholders as representing an important balance in the distribution of positions within the commission. His replacement by Amadi, who is from the same broader political environment as Amaechi, therefore became another source of controversy.
Some Niger Delta stakeholders expressed concern that the appointments could upset the expected balance among the states and ethnic groups represented in the NDDC leadership.
There were also allegations that the changes were politically motivated and connected to the longstanding rivalry between Amaechi and Senator Magnus Abe.
Those making the allegations argued that the dissolution of the entire board may have provided a way of removing officials whom the minister could not easily dislodge individually.
The allegations, however, were political claims at the centre of an unfolding controversy and were not, in themselves, proof of wrongdoing by Amaechi or any other individual mentioned.
Questions were consequently being raised about the rationale for dissolving an entire board when vacancies arising from the resignation of individual office holders could potentially have been addressed through the procedures provided by law.
At the heart of the controversy was a broader concern: whether the changes at the NDDC were primarily administrative decisions or whether political considerations had influenced the process.
The development was already generating strong reactions across the Niger Delta, with stakeholders demanding clarity on the legal basis for the dissolution and the subsequent appointments.
The controversy also placed renewed attention on the importance of following the statutory procedures governing the NDDC, particularly in matters concerning the tenure, removal and replacement of its principal officers.
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