By: Emeji K. Noble

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he crisis rocking the Niger Delta Development Commission deepened on Friday when the House of Representatives differed with the Senate over the status of the Interim Management Committee set up by the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, on the orders of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The President forwarded the 2019 and 2020 budgets of the commission to the two chambers of the National Assembly on Tuesday for their consideration and approval.

The Senate President,  Ahmad Lawan,  referred the budget estimates to the Senate Committee on Niger Delta with a standing instruction to relate strictly with the nominees on the board of the agency screened and confirmed by the Senate since November 5.

But indications that the crisis in the commission appeared to be getting worse appeared on Friday when the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on the NDDC, Olubunmi Tunji – Ojo, told one of our correspondents that the Green Chamber would not have anything to do with the board.

Tunji – Ojo,  however,  said that the House would as from next week begin interactions with the Interim Management Committee of the commission as the acting Managing Director, Dr. Gbene Nunieh, would lead her team to defend the budgets.

He said, “The board doesn’t defend the budget, it is the management that defends the budget. As far as there is no other directive from the leadership of the House of Representatives, our committee will go ahead with the budget defence with the interim management team as from next week.

“The budget has been referred to our committee and the management would defend it. Unless the board is inaugurated, we won’t allow them to come and defend the budget. As from next week,  the interim management committee of the NDDC will be called upon to defend the budget.”

He disagreed with the position of the Senate Spokesperson, Godiya Akwashiki, who told journalists on Thursday that the red chamber would not interface with the interim management committee because it was illegal and unconstitutional.

Tunji-Ojo said, “Section 171 (1)  of the constitution which is the grand norm states that the President has the power to appoint persons to hold or act in the offices to which this section applies.

“Sub-sections 2(b) talks about the offices of which the section applies. This includes Permanent Secretary in any office or head of any extra ministerial department, of which the NDDC is one.

“The NDDC Act is inferior to the constitution. There is no Act in Nigeria that has provision for people to hold offices in acting capacity because the power has already been given to the President under Section 171 (1).

“This has automatically killed the argument that the interim management team is illegal because the President is right, he has the power to appoint people in acting capacity. We are going ahead to take the interim management of the NDDC under the leadership of the acting MD.”

Senate says NDDC interim management team is illegal
Several efforts to speak with the Senate Spokesperson on the position of the House of Representatives over the NDDC interim management team failed on Friday as repeated calls put across to his mobile phone were not responded to as of the time of filing this report.

He had also yet to reply the text message sent to him by 6pm.

But Akwashiki had said on Thursday that the Senate would not have anything to do with Akpabio’s caretaker committee because it was not a legal entity.

The Senate Spokesperson told journalists after plenary that the Senate was waiting for Buhari to inaugurate the newly confirmed members of the NDDC board.

He had said, “We have confirmed the nominees sent to us by the Presidency. Assuming we didn’t confirm them, then we could be talking of a caretaker committee.

“We expect the President to inaugurate the new board. It doesn’t take more than 10 minutes to do that. We will deal with the board approved by the Senate in line with the constitution.

“We won’t recognise any caretaker committee, so,  how are we going to deal with them?

“There is no room for caretaker committee in the NDDC. We won’t ask for the dissolution of the team but the Senate could call for their arrest if they want to forcefully defend the NDDC budgets.

“Let’s wait and see how far they (the caretaker committee)  can go or how far they can move.”

Senate shuns Buhari’s order for a stay of action on board confirmation – Source
Meanwhile, a senior official of the Niger Delta Ministry who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the issue wondered why the Senate was insisting on dealing with the board which had not been inaugurated.

He alleged that the red chamber went ahead with the confirmation when the President had allegedly issued a stay of action order, on the board.

He said,  “The President made some errors while putting the board together. The President has since realised, based on legal advice that some mistakes have been made in putting the board together.

“There are over 100 litigation in various courts against the composition of the board. Section 4 of the NDDC Act states very clearly, the order of appointment of the Chairman of the NDDC.

“It even mentioned it, state by state. At the moment, it is the turn of Delta State to produce the chairman, not Edo State. We cannot disobey the law.

“The President approved the board composition before his attention was drawn to it. As a law-abiding President,  he decided to put further action on the board on hold.

“Section 12 (4) of the NDDC Act talks about the position of managing director which should be rotated among the oil producing states in order of quantum of production. At the moment,  it is the turn of Ondo State to produce the MD,  not Delta State.”

Another source in the Senate Committee on the NDDC,  who preferred to speak off the record, said,  “What is even more confusing is the fact that the President took the decision to suspend action on the board before the Senate screening started and I believe that the leadership of the Senate was consulted.”

He added,  “There was a joint Senate and House of Representatives’ investigative hearing, the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs showed us a letter in which the President made comments with his own handwriting and even appended his signature to it.

“The letter was dated October 26, 2019. Paragraph eight of the letter states that all actions should be suspended on the issue of the board and he approved the composition of the interim management committee.

“Paragraph six of the letter talked about the forensic audit. The President has the power to appoint interim management team. There is no Act of the National Assembly that made provision for interim arrangement but it can be made by executive fiat.

“Since the law abhors vacuum, what the President said was that pending when we would put our house in order, let us have an interim arrangement.”

A member of the House of Representatives Committee on the NDDC said going by the NDDC Act,  the President was supposed to consult with other members of the Niger Delta Advisory Council before coming up with the board.

He said, “The President is the chairman of the council while the nine governors of the oil producing states are members. The highest power of the NDDC Act lies in the advisory council.

“The council was not consulted before the board was constituted. The President later met with the governors and when his attention was drawn to the errors made in the appointment,  he ordered that further actions should be suspended on the matter.

“That was when we agreed that while the forensic audit is ongoing, there would be wide consultation with the stakeholders so that we would follow the law in the board appointment.

“The law states that the first state to produce the chairman is Abia,  hence Ugochukwu Onyema was appointed and it was to be rotated in alphabetical order.

“The Senate should not force the President to implement illegality. The President has made a mistake and he has realised this by doing the right thing.

“The Act also stipulates that the approval of the board should be done in consultation with the House of Representatives but nobody consulted us. If the Senate had consulted us, the House would have passed a resolution on it.”

Probe NDDC’s interim management expenditure, IYC urges NASS
The Ijaw Youth Council, Worldwide, has called on the National Assembly to probe the expenditure of the Interim Management Committee of the NDDC and sanction those spending Federal Government’s money without parliamentary approval

IYC President, Mr. Eric Omare, in a statement on Friday, described the interim management committee of the NDDC as illegal and urged the House of Representatives to join the Senate in stopping the NDDC interim management committee from defending the 2019/2020 budget of the commission.

Omare hailed the Senate for defending the interest of the oppressed people of the Niger Delta region, adding that it should maintain its stance to only deal with the confirmed board of the NDDC.

“We call on the House of Representatives to follow the lead that has been provided by the Senate and also bar the illegal IMC from coming to defend the 2019/2020 NDDC budget.

“We further call on the National Assembly to probe the expenditure of the illegal Interim Management Committee and sanction those culpable for spending money from the funds of the Federal Government without legislative authorisation.

“Recall that the Senate President, while referring the 2019/2020 budget of the NDDC to the Senate Committee on Niger Delta Affairs, directed the committee to only deal with the duly confirmed board of the NDDC and not the interim management committee appointed by Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Akpabio.

“The Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide commend the President of the Senate, Dr. Ahmed Lawal, and the entire Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for barring the illegal Interim Management Committee of the NDDC from defending the 2019/2020 budget of the Commission,” Omare said in the statement.

Describing the NDDC as a baby of the National Assembly, Omare recalled how the National Assembly under Chuba Okadigbo (Senate) and Ghali Na’Abba (House of Representatives) vetoed the presidential assent and passed the NDDC Act into law.

[dropcap]I[/dropcap] have taken out time to research into Mr Allen Onyema’s past and what you will read here should be of interest to every Nigerian. You will decide on the guilt or innocence of Mr Allen Onyema.

In 2007 when Yar’Adua mounted the rock, the Niger Delta was no man’s land, it was a region devouring itself. The Niger Delta was a warring nation and Nigeria the occupying force sponsored by neo colonial imperialist oil companies, according to the agitators. Militants who branded themselves freedom fighters had shut down the region, no barge, oil tanker or oil pipeline was off limit. Kidnapping was no longer a menace it became a nuisance, neighbours were kidnapping one another making quick easy money. It was a miracle Nigeria was still pumping crude oil. Before the elections in 2007, production had dipped to 680,000 barrels per day, from 2.2 million barrels, just over 25% of its original output. President Obsanjo a civilian President a relic of Nigeria’s military dictatorships wanted peace but hated the word diplomacy. I had this ‘ they will see me’ attitude.

But Yar’Adua was different, he was desperate for peace but had no road map. But he had heard of a certain Robinson Crusoe / Rambo type man, a man who was virtually living in the creeks, in no man’s land. This man was living in the war torn mangrove swamps, a weird nutter who was friends with the soldiers, the militants and the oil companies. He was making a living being the only mediator in the creeks. The militants would only listen to him and no other. He was the one who convinced the militants and told them Amnesty did not mean Surrender but Development That man’s name was Allen Onyema, a lawyer. He this crazy idea that PEACE was possible.

It is not clear when Mr Allen Onyema started the Foundation of Ethnic Harmony in Nigeria (FEHN). But FEHN’s tremendous growth was as result of his unusual patriotism. Barr. Allen Ifechukwu Onyema was a lawyer who had graduated from the law school in 1989. He had a stint at law practice for a few years but was strangely drawn to conflict resolution, he was passionate about Peace. He is one of the few Africans and perhaps the only Nigerian who has been given the prestigious much coveted Martin Luther King Award.

He facilitated Peace and Reconciliation during the Idiaraba Ethnic violence in Lagos 2003. During the same period he brought Peace between the warring Yorubas and Hausas over the Lagos abattoir. In 2004 he sponsored a project called Nigeria Forever Project in the 36 States between 2004 and 2005 to promote a broad based Nationalism as against Ethnic Nationalism, it was a huge success.

These early forays on various peace projects prepared him for the Niger Delta bloody imbroglio. He waded in when there was a red line between battle hardened Nigerian soldiers and amulet wearing militants who believed their skins had been transformed to steel by black magic.

Onyema used his own funds to sponsor youths to the Nonviolence training and transformational programmes long before the Oil Companies, Federal Government and International Community began to partner with him and invest in his training programmes. The impact of success which FEHN had with the transformation of restive youths drew the attention of Shell. Prior to their encounter with FEHN, they had constantly experienced shutdowns of their operations due to the violent activities of restive youths. These endless disruptions came to an end when FEHN trained and transformed several youths, soon other Oil Companies like Chevron, Afren Oil etc, joined in the sponsorship of youths to the FEHN training. Onyema’s method had stopped a complete shut down of the oil industry and the oil companies were happy pay him for his services.

Onyema’s methods caught the attention of not just the International Communities, but President Yar’Adua; Onyema was the nexus of Peace and Diplomacy the Federal Government had been looking for. Chief Timi Alaibe with the NDDC , got Barrister Allen Onyema and his organization – The Foundation for Ethnic Harmony in Nigeria (FEHN), to train and transform over 600 youths of the Niger Delta.

It was the success of this program that finally convinced the Yar’Adua to declare the Presidential Amnesty which was granted to Niger Delta Militants. Mr Allen Onyema’s hard work had finally paid off – he landed the biggest contract in Nigeria – FEHN was given the sole responsibility to rehabilitate, train and transform over 30,000 ex-militants. He oversaw the disarmament and demobilization of over 30,000 ex-agitators and he superintended in the skilling and reintegration of these youths into the civil society in an ongoing reintegration programme. Thousands of militants were flown abroad for various kinds of training in non-violent Conflict Resolution, Aviation and Deep Sea Welding.

Here was a remark by an article at the time, “A seemingly insurmountable task which posed impossible for several years finally generated positive results at the intervention of FEHN. This incredibly remarkable achievement is one of the most laudable landmarks of FEHN for not only the Niger Delta but also the Nation in its entirety. The acheivement of this feat helped to rebrand the face of the Nigerian Nation before the entire world. FEHN successfully trained the Ex-militant leaders on the Kingian Nonviolence Philosophy. This laudable occurrence could not have come at a better time, as the Leaders are not just embracing the Peace culture, but are already training others. Barrister Allen Onyema, National Chairman of FEHN achieved this feat against all odds, at a time when it seemed impossible. It was so rewarding to see the commitment and enthusiasm which the leaders displayed as they began to chart the noble cause. Among the Ex militant leaders present at the training are Farah Dagogo, Boy loaf, Sele etc”.

When Jonathan took over in 2011 he appointed Kingsley Kuku as SA, Niger Delta and Chairman of the Amnesty Programme in January 2011. He spent billions to stop the violence and fund FEHN. The NSA budget in 2011 for the Amnesty programme was – feeding allowance (N48 billion), operations cost (N20.796 billion), reintegration of transformed Niger Delta ex-militants, 2010 arrears (N4.174 billion) and reintegration of Niger Delta ex-militants (N925 million.

In 2012 Kuku’s Amnesty Programme controlled a N60 billion budget about $350 million USD). President Jonathan was determined to rescue the dwindling oil revenue – he spared no cash and this time FEHN was given the sole responsibility to rescue the nation and save Jonathan’s government from siege in the creeks. Onyema was successful. He did a job and got well paid for it. People who may wonder why his outfit was the only Social enterprise contracted to oversee the entire multi billion naira programme can take that question up with the former President, it has nothing to do with Mr Allen Onyema. He was a man doing a job and got paid for it.

By January 2012 Allen Onyema had made a tidy pile for himself he paid tens of thousands of dollars to the Obama campaign support.

In January 2013 he was invited for an Obama victory party and was honoured with an exclusive photo-shoot with President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and their wives.

That same year he laid out plans to invest his fortune and Air Peace wa s established. A symbol of his years of non violent Peace projects in Nigeria.

– Hope For Nigeria.

(Featured Photo Source: Chukwudi Iwuchukwu’s blog and The Cable.ng)