PRESS STATEMENT
The attention of the Niger Delta Development Commission has been drawn to the report, headlined, “Another Niger Delta Militant Group Announces Resumption of Hostilities,” carried in the Vanguard edition of Tuesday, January 10, 2017, in which some unsubstantiated and unverifiable claims were made concerning the Commission.
We wish to state categorically, and without reservations, that there is no iota of truth in the allegation by the group, The Niger Delta Revolutionary Crusaders, NDRC, “that N80 billion which was supposed to be used in developing the Niger Delta was used to prosecute the election of a former South-South governor, while N40 billion was also withdrawn from the NDDC coffers to prosecute the last re-run election in Rivers State.”
The Commission’s new Management and Governing Board have only just assumed duties and have neither awarded projects yet nor undertaken any transactions of such magnitude. These facts are verifiable. It is, indeed, very important for stories, where such claims are made, to pass the litmus test of verity and fact. Otherwise, we avail ourselves to the malicious mischief and manipulation of propagandists and peddlers of rumours and lies.
While the Commission recognises the right of individuals and groups to advance for regional development, we wish to, once more, restate that development occurs best in an atmosphere of peace and security. We call on NDRC and other groups in the region to eschew violence as a means of engagement with Government and government agencies and, instead, pursue peace for the overall development of the Niger Delta region.
CHIJIOKE AMU-NNADI
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