Okwe Obi, Abuja
Vehicular and human movements were, on Tuesday, grounded at Maitama District of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, as Niger Delta former agitators took to the streets to protest nonpayment of contracts executed by some of them by the Chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mr. Nsima Ekere.
Public Relations Officers of Niger Delta Ex-agitators Leadership Forum, Charles Kurobo, who led the protest, accused the NDDC boss of sitting on their money, claiming that efforts to persuade him to pay the contractors have yielded no fruit.
This was even as Kurobo called on President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene in the matter by sacking him or they will be forced to handle the matter their way which he said may not augur well.
Reading out his address to newsmen, he beckoned on the leadership of the Code of Conduct Bureau to investigate him.
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His words, “Yearly, money is being appropriated to the commission but he has refused to pay contractors.
“Also, the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Nsime Ekere, has contravened the Code of Conduct and Tribunal Act, by not maintaining a high standard of public morality in the conduct of public office business in his activities as the managing director of NDDC.
“He has acquired over 23 brand new Toyota Hiace buses valued N460,000,000,00, 4 brand new Toyota Prado Jeeps valued at N40, 000,000.
“These obvious acquisitions by Nsima Ekere are far above his financial remunerations as the MD of NDDC,” he alleged.
He, therefore appealed to the Bureau to commence immediate investigation on the above information and subsequent prosecution in the code of conduct tribunal, adding that “failure to look into our petition within seven days, we shall not hesitate to approach the court of law for an order of mandamus compelling you to act.”
On his part, Coordinator of Indigenous Contractors of NDDC, Alexander Pepple, noted that their decision to follow due process was to change the negative perception of people from the Niger Delta region as violent and pipelines vandals.