The Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide has called on the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), to immediately sack the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, for his alleged manipulation of the Niger Delta Development Commission.

This was as the Ijaw youth demanded that the names of contractors indicted in the NDDC audit report be published and that the contractors should be prosecuted.

Akpabio had, while submitting the forensic audit report, disclosed that 13,000 projects were abandoned in the region since the creation of the NDDC.

In a statement on Friday, the IYC President, Peter Igbifa, called on the President to set up a panel of inquiry to probe what transpired in the NDDC within the period of the audit.

He said, “We appeal to the President to first publish the names of persons and companies behind this collective rape and destruction of our commonwealth.

“We want their names to be made public. We are challenging the presidency not to allow this to slide and end up as one of the empty threats consumed by the lack of political will.”

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The IYC also accused Akpabio of deliberately mismanaging the audit process by allegedly deploying delay tactics.

Igbifa said sacking Akpabio would pave the way for the inauguration of a substantive board of the commission, following the submission of the forensic audit report on the NDDC.

The IYC President said, “We were told that Akpabio ensured that selfish recommendations were smuggled into the report. If these recommendations are implemented, they will deny states adequate representation on the board and give Akpabio more time to continue running the NDDC with a sole administrator.

“For instance, we learnt that there are recommendations for a part-time board and reduction in the number of board members.

“These suggestions are not feasible because they are designed to extend the sole administrative regime in the NDDC. They require amendments to the Act establishing the NDDC and this will take at least six months to achieve.

“Besides, how can you think of reducing the board members? Which state are you going to exclude from the board? Or do you think IOCs should not be part of the board?

“These are obviously selfish recommendations and we are calling on the Presidency to be careful to avoid promoting one man’s selfish tendencies ahead of the collective interest and development of the Niger Delta.

“We are calling on the President to sack Akpabio for all the embarrassment he has caused for the Presidency in his insatiable appetite to maintain his stranglehold on the NDDC.

“Since he has submitted the report, it is time for him to go home and allow the NDDC have a fresh breath. His continued stay in office is an obstacle to President Buhari’s desire to inaugurate the board of the commission.