KEY POINTS
- NDDF warns against halting funds for Rivers local councils.
- Group threatens to bomb oil infrastructure over court’s proposed restriction on LGA allocations.
- Tensions run high in Niger Delta over alleged court ruling.
Militant group in Nigeria’s Niger Delta ‘Niger Delta Development Force’ (NDDF) warns President Bola Tinubu off ‘interference’ in revenue allocations to the 23 local government areas in Rivers State.
Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike seeks by means of the court in Abuja to fraudulently stop these funds, and the NDDF threatened to hit Nigeria’s oil facilities in retaliation.
Ex–militants threaten to shut down oil facility over allocation dispute
In a recent briefing in Port Harcourt, NDDF spokesperson Justin Alabraba further reiterated the group’s stance. He also warned that the NDDF will retaliate by shutting down major oil facilities should Abuja court ruling stop Rivers LGAs from benefiting from their allocations.
‘Nyesom Wike cannot go around causing problems in Rivers State using Tinubu’s powers and get away with it,’ Alabraba insisted.
Tensions mount over alleged judicial interference
Reports that Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court, Abuja, could halt these allocations as early as Monday are being opposed by the NDDF.
Furthermore the NDDF says Wike’s influence in Abuja is designed to destabilise Rivers State’s local governance structure under the Governor Siminalayi Fubara, and Justice Abdulmalik denies these claims.
Rivers State, one of the most strategic to Nigeria’s economy, is on the brink of tension, Alabraba warned, but said the crisis would intensify if Rivers’ financial autonomy were threatened.
According to Vanguard, the NDDF calls on the judiciary to avert potentially disturbing hostilities in Niger Delta as the risk of doing this cannot be minimized by interfering with Rivers’ allocations.
