Group wants NDDC to take over completion of East-West road, hails Tinubu for reappointing Ogbuku as Managing Director

Dr Samuel Ogbuku, Managing Director/CEO, NDDC

A group, the Niger Delta Indigenous Contractors Association, has called on the Federal Government to direct the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to immediately take over the completion of the East-West road, which has been under construction for exactly seventeen years now. It noted that the NDDC is in better stead and more committed to completing the project considering its day-to-day operational activities in the region.

In a statement issued to the media on Tuesday by its President, Chief Dressman Darlinton-Gbolobofa, the group also commended President Bola Tinubu for reappointing Dr Samuel Ogbuku as the Managing Director of NDDC, stating that in so doing, the President has once again shown that he has the interests of the region at heart.

The group said that as an agency of government saddled with the responsibility of developing the Niger Delta region, NDDC “stands a better chance and will be more committed to the completion of the project due to its day-to-day operational activities in the region”.

“The Niger Delta Ministry supervised the East/West project between 2008 and 2022 with little improvement; it’s therefore time for the mandate to shift to NDDC to do the job.

The group, which has always insisted that the constant changing of administration in the NDDC had resulted in the woeful performance of the commission, thanked President Tinubu for heeding popular demand for the reappointment of Dr Ogbuku as the Managing Director. According to them, “This has to a large extent shown that the President has an interest in the peace and development of the region”.

“While congratulating the Managing Director/CEO, Chairman of the Commission, Executive Directors, and other board members, we wish to equally remind them that this is an opportunity to serve and not to be served”.

“Let us equally use this platform to call on all political leaders and stakeholders in the region to rally support for the newly constituted board of the NDDC to succeed, as the pull-him-down practice is no longer a viable option in our dear region”, the statement read.

President Tinubu recently approved Ogbuku’s reappointment as the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).