The Chairperson of the NDDC board, Lauretta Onochie is against the project idea, and has described the MOU signing as 'illegal, null and void'.
The Ijaw Youth Council has backed the proposal by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to explore the possibility of building a railway line that would connect all the states in the Niger Delta region.
The group's president, Peter Igbifa, who spoke on the matter on Thursday in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State vowed not to allow anybody scuttle the project idea, according to a report by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
Managing Director of NDDC, Samuel Ogbuku, last month, signed a $15 billion Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Atlantic Global Resources Inc., a US-based company to build the railway network to connect the nine states in Nigeria's Niger Delta.
The agreement signing was done in Lagos, South-west Nigeria, at a one-day Public Private Partnership (PPP) Submit organised by the NDDC.
The project, when it is implemented, would ease the infrastructure deficit in the oil-rich Niger Delta, Mr Ogbuku said.
In a swift reaction to the agreement, the Chairperson of the NDDC Governing Board, Lauretta Onochie said the MOU was "illegal, null and void".
She claimed the agreement was done without the knowledge of the board.
According to Mrs Onochie, the Act establishing the NDDC, empowers the chairperson of the board to sign MOUs on behalf of the agency.
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But the NDDC management, in its response to Mrs Onochie, said the MOU was a preliminary process, and not a contract award.
Apparently referring to the chairperson of the NDDC board, the commission's Director of Corporate Communication, Ibitoye Abosede said some persons may have misconstrued the MOU to mean Engineering, Procurement, Construction contract.
"What we signed on 25 April is simply the opening phase that will determine how far we will go, but definitely showcases how interested the international partners are in tapping into the Niger Delta region," Mr Abosede said adding that the model is to provide alternative sources of funding for key projects and programmes of the commission.
Ijaw Youth Council reacts
Speaking at an event in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa state capital, Mr Igbifa who described the railway project idea as an answered prayer, said it would boost commerce in the region.
Although he did not mention the comments made by Mrs Onochie concerning the project, Mr Igbifa urged the US-based company to disregard "any attempt" to discourage them from following up the agreement.
He described the project idea as a paradigm shift from the "quick-win project," which he said the "NDDC is known for."
"The proposed railway network will surely stimulate the type of economic activities required to place the region on the fast lane of development.
"The proposal is in tandem with the core mandate of the NDDC. We need to unite to ensure that it is realised. We are in support of the project. We shall not allow anybody to scuttle its implementation.
"We see it as an answer to our prayer for a regional project that will promote development and regional integration," Mr Igbifa said.
