Some leaders of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Bayelsa State have slammed the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mr Samuel Ogbuku, over his sponsorship of political activities in the state.
They expressed their dissatisfaction during their meeting in Yenagoa, where they criticised the MD for using the resources of the agency to advance his own political ambition.
The development, it was gathered, led to a serious shouting match during the meeting held few days ago.
Trouble started after the speech by the Bayelsa State Chairman of the APC, Dr. Dennis Otiotio, who lavished encomium on the NDDC Managing Director for using his position to fund political activities in Bayelsa State—including the recently concluded APC expanded stakeholders’ meeting held at the party secretariat in Yenezuegene, along Melford Okilo Road.
Upon hearing Otiotio, some party members shouted in protest and described the praise as ” a praise that offends the sensitivity of members of the party and the general public “. Some of the protesters walked out of the meeting, stating that, “the meeting has exposed the misuse of public fund by the NDDC management in promoting and funding of personal political ambitions with the highest impunity at the detriment of the development of the oil rich region that has suffered neglect over the years”.
The protesters many of whom are loyalists of former one term governor of the state and governorship candidate in the 2023 off circle gubernatorial election, Chief Timipre Sylva, took exception to Otiotio’s praise of Ogbuku.
“We in Bayelsa are not seeing any impact under Ogbuku-led management of the NDDC and the chairman of the party, Dr. Dennis Otiotio had the effrontery to praise him for using public funds on sponsoring ordinary meetings by renting planes to fly political leaders from Abuja to Bayelsa. Can other regions use the regional commission fund meant for development to charter flights to host any Bayelsans holding National party position? Certainly it won’t happen, ” said some of the protesters.
According to the protesters, “At the appropriate time , we will tell Samuel Ogbuku to his face that APC governorship ticket is not for the highest bidder and we are waiting on him. Just like his predecessors he will equally fail. We know where the dead bodies are buried and we will show him.”
They warned Otiotio to stop his bootlicking and ego massaging political culture as it is capable of causing disunity in the party .
Recall, the media has been awash with reports of how over N56 billion was spent on the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the commission.
The protest signalled that all is not well in the Bayelsa State APC, as there is growing mutual suspicions among the various factions of Prince Amgbari Ebitimi, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Oil, the Timipre Sylva faction and the Ogbuku faction which has become a splinter group out of the Sylva hitherto leadership.
