President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered immediate removal of Dr. Pius Odubu as chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
President Buhari also validated the existence of the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of the commission led by Dr Joi Nunieh.
This was contained in a statement released on Thursday morning by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the president, Mr. Femi Adesina.
The statement read: “President Muhammadu Buhari has approved that the Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) be recomposed and inaugurated after the forensic audit of the organisation.
“The President has also directed that the Interim Management Team of the NDDC shall be in place till the forensic is completed, and that the supervision of the Commission shall remain under the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs.”
Earlier, The Herald reported that the removal of Isiah Idoko-Akoh as Chairman of IST by President Buhari has been applauded by members of the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE), an affiliate of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC).
The sacking of Isiah Idoko-Akoh was announced by Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Finance, Mr Mahmoud Isa-Dutse, who also said the President approved the appointment of a full-time member of the tribunal, Mr J. I. Udunni, as the new chairman.
The union, at a joint press conference on Friday in Abuja, said President Buhari did well by removing Mr Idoko-Akoh from the position, saying it was long overdue.
According to Chairman of the Abuja chapter of AUPCTRE, Comrade Aliyu Maradun, the former IST Chairman vehemently opposed the progress and actualization of the mandate given by President Mohammed Buhari, on the tribunal and its workers.
He said the union engaged the former Chairman at different fora with a view to avoiding the tribunal from losing its competence and capability in adjudicating over millions of investors’ cases, as his integrity was in doubt, but nothing came of out the talks.
According to him, “The struggle led to three picketings at the IST premises in order to draw government attention and relevant stakeholders.”
“It is very unfortunate that the Chairman unilaterally handled IST as if it is his own personal private property without recourse to Civil/Public Service Rules and Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”