By PANDEF Forum Issues Communiqué Thanking President for Rivers Peace, But Delivers Stark Warning on Regional Infrastructure Crisis
PROMINENT leaders from the Niger Delta have issued a stark warning to the Federal Government, accusing it of neglect and “abandonment” of critical infrastructure in the oil-rich region, whilst similar projects elsewhere are prioritised.
The demands and grievances were laid out in a communiqué released on Saturday, 4th October 2025, following an enlarged National Executive Committee meeting of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) held in Benin City.
Presided over by National Chairman, Ambassador Godknows Igali, the meeting was attended by state chairmen from across the Niger Delta, including Edo, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, and Rivers states.
While the forum began by thanking President Bola Tinubu for his role in restoring democratic institutions in Rivers State, the tone swiftly shifted to one of “great worry” and frustration over the state of the region’s infrastructure.
“Deplorable” Roads and an Abandoned Railway
PANDEF expressed “great worry over the collapse of federal roads in Niger Delta,” singling out the perennially troubled East-West Road, which remains “largely uncompleted,” particularly the Benin-Warri section. The also condemned the “deplorable state” of the Benin-Auchi and Calabar-Itu roads.
In a pointed comparison, the leaders highlighted the “unfortunate abandonment” of the railway line from Ujevwu in Delta State to Itakpe in Kogi State. They noted that the Abuja-Kaduna railway line, which broke down around the same time, “had long been attended to and fixed as if Niger Delta does not matter in Nigeria.”
Call for Economic Revival Through Ports
As a matter of urgent economic upliftment, the forum called on the Federal Government to ensure the restoration of all seaports in the South-South geopolitical zone. The listed ports in Calabar, Port Harcourt, Warri, Sapele, Burutu, and Koko are seen as vital to increasing the per capita income of the region’s people.
A Call for Immortalisation
Amidst the criticisms, the communiqué also called upon the Federal Government to “immortalise” the late retired Inspector-General of Police, Dr Solomon Arase, for his “invaluable contributions to national unity and development,” suggesting a major national monument be named in his honour.
The communiqué, signed by National Chairman Ambassador Godknows Igali, Edo State Chairman Prof Alfred Ehigiegba, and National Publicity Secretary Chief Obiuwevbi Ominimini, serves as a direct appeal to the Tinubu administration, balancing gratitude for recent political stability with a firm demand for tangible economic and infrastructural progress in the Niger Delta.
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