The Ukwa West local government area chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Abia State, last weekend, at Umuelechi, Asa, commended President Muhammadu Buhari, for his decision to recompose the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC.

The President had, in a press release signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina recently, approved that the Board of the NDDC be recomposed and inaugurated after the forensic audit of the organisation.

Addressing the stakeholders of the party in the local government, the Abia State deputy chairman of the party, Chief Ogunka Adiele John stated that the leadership of the party in the Ukwa East / Ukwa West federal constituency thought it necessary to hold a meeting to deliberate on the way forward, adding that the poor handling of NDDC appointments in the past accounted for the factionalisation of the party in the local government.

He said it became necessary for the leadership of the party to be pro-active by recommending names to the APC led federal government to avoid repeating previous mistakes which cost the party victory at the polls during the last general elections in the area, pointing out that it would be good for the input and recommendations of authentic APC leaders in Ukwa, being the only oil producing area in Abia State, to be considered during the recomposition of the NDDC board .

Chief John, who expressed confidence in Chief Sir Marc Wabara, APC chieftain and leader of the Ukwa East / Ukwa West federal constituency, traced the non performance of the NDDC to the fact that previous appointments into its board were influenced by people from outside the area.

The meeting, which was attended by party leaders and stakeholders from the three zones that make up the Ukwa West Local Government Area chapter of the APC, nominated three persons to be sent to the Presidency out of which they hope the President would graciously choose from to represent Abia State on the board of the NDDC.

A member of Board of Trustees of the All Progressive Grand Alliance, Dr David Bourdex, on Monday asked the National Assembly not to declare vacant the Abia North Senatorial seat, occupied by Orji Uzor Kalu.

Recall that a Federal High Court in Lagos had last year sentenced Kalu to 12 years’ imprisonment, for diverting the sum of N7.2bn while in office as the governor of Abia State.

Bourdex, who was also the APGA candidate for Abia North Senatorial seat in the 2019 general elections, said, “It is preposterous and presumptuous to make such a demand to declare his seat vacant.

“Granted that the wheel of justice grinds slowly and surely, those of us in politics should strive to follow the rule of law without doing anything to circumvent the process. We should stand for fairness; and patience is necessary to ensure that justice is done both for the state and citizens and society at large.”

-PUNCH