Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), spoke to people involved in agriculture in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Thursday. This was in the middle of a lot of social media claims saying that security agencies had arrested him.
The event was part of a two-day strategic meeting to get ready for the upcoming Niger Delta Agricultural Summit. It drew Commissioners for Agriculture and Permanent Secretaries from all nine Niger Delta states, as well as representatives from important agricultural agencies and private sector partners.
Dr. Ogbuku told people in the region to start moving away from relying on crude oil and toward a more diverse economy based on agriculture. He said that agriculture is still the best way to ensure food security, create jobs, and promote long-term growth in the region.
“The Niger Delta needs to think about more than just oil. Agriculture is the key to changing our economy and keeping it stable for a long time. “We can unlock the huge potential of our farmlands and create sustainable jobs for our people through working together on plans and making smart investments,” Ogbuku said.
He stressed that the NDDC was already working on programs that combine agricultural innovation, agribusiness incubation, and youth empowerment to promote growth that includes everyone in the region.
Hon. Yekini Nabena, a former member of the House of Representatives and leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has called the rumors of Ogbuku’s supposed arrest inaccurate, malicious, and politically driven.
Dr. Ogbuku had been in the public eye and actively involved in official duties, therefore Nabena said the viral rumors were a desperate attempt by political opponents to distract the NDDC leader from his reform goal.
“We woke up yesterday to read some fake news on social media that Dr. Sam Ogbuku had been arrested. Why? This morning, he spoke live from Port Harcourt at the current agricultural summit. Two national media channels showed the speech. Nabena stated, “This should make the people who spread fake news feel bad.”
He told the public to dismiss the rumor and said that Dr. Ogbuku was “one of the most trusted and reliable hands in President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope administration.”
The APC leader also said that the head of the NDDC is still dedicated to carrying out President Tinubu’s plan for development in the Niger Delta, especially through policies that encourage self-sufficiency, food security, and youth productivity.
Shortly after unsubstantiated reports of a military raid on the Abuja home of Chief Timipre Sylva, the former Governor of Bayelsa State and Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, rumors of Ogbuku’s detention began to spread on social media. Some websites had guessed that the two occurrences were connected, however that allegation has now been shown to be false and without proof.
After Thursday’s public appearance and planned events in Port Harcourt, stakeholders say the incident shows how important it is to share information responsibly and be careful of politically motivated fake news.
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