Posted by By BUCHY ENYINNAYA, Asaba on
The Action Congress (AC) has called for an urgent public investigation into the affairs and finances of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Federal Ministry of Works.
The Action Congress (AC) has called for an urgent public investigation into the affairs and finances of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Federal Ministry of Works.
The finances and affairs of these organizations, the party argued, had not been made public since the present democratic dispensation.
The AC also said that given the results of the last general election, and the level of infidelity concerning it, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Maurice Iwu, should resign his appointment and the commission dissolved.
The call was made on Tuesday in Asaba, the Delta State capital at the South South zonal conference of the party attended by delegates from all the six states of the sub-region , comprising Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross Rivers, Delta, Edo and Rivers.
The party, which reviewed the activities of government from May 29, noted that the current crisis in Port Harcourt, Rivers State could not be resolved through military action or the declaration of a state of emergency. 'Instead, it will be only by genuinely addressing the deep-seated socio-economic problems that had engulfed the state for so long and exacerbated by the bad and selfish policies of the Obasanjo years that normalcy could be restored to this strategic region," the party said in a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting that lasted several hours. The party also noted that 'the Federal Government seems to be at its wits end in dealing decisively with the Niger Delta violence" .
Erstwhile Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chief Tony Ikimi, who read the 10-point communiqué, said that the body particularly frowned at the manner the Federal Government handled the violence in the Niger Delta region.
'The recent breakdown of law and order particularly in Rivers State, is a direct consequence of the violent and irresponsible manner the April 2007 general elections were wantonly rigged . Those employed to do the dirty job are now jobless but
still heavily armed, hence they vent their spleen on society."
The meeting urged speedy resolution of the cases before the various election tribunals so that 'no candidate should be allowed to benefit from fraud even for a single day.
On the desperation of PDP governors to conduct the local government elections, the party frowned at the plans noting that 'local government elections should only be conducted by those whose mandates are not in doubt."