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The Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) has issued a scathing communiqué condemning the federal government’s persistent neglect of critical infrastructure in the oil-rich region, warning that continued marginalisation could deepen poverty and discontent among its people.

Rising from an enlarged National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting held in Benin City on Saturday, October 4, 2025, and presided over by its National Chairman, Ambassador Godknows Igali (OON), PANDEF called for immediate government action to reverse decades of infrastructural decay and economic sabotage in the Niger Delta.

The group lamented the “shameful” state of federal roads across the region, with particular reference to the East-West Road — a strategic artery of Nigeria’s oil economy — which it said remains largely abandoned, especially the Benin–Warri section. It also highlighted the deteriorating conditions of the Benin–Auchi and Calabar–Itu highways, describing them as death traps that mock the region’s economic significance.

Equally, PANDEF decried the federal government’s failure to repair the Ujevwu-Itakpe railway line in Delta and Kogi States, which has been left idle for years while similar projects elsewhere, such as the Abuja–Kaduna line, were promptly restored. “It is as if the Niger Delta does not matter in Nigeria,” the communiqué stated bitterly.

To spur economic growth and raise the per capita income of the region’s people, the group demanded the immediate rehabilitation and reactivation of all moribund seaports in the South-South, including those in Calabar, Port Harcourt, Warri, Sapele, Burutu, and Koko. PANDEF argued that restoring these ports is essential for trade, job creation, and the diversification of Nigeria’s economy.

On a more conciliatory note, the forum expressed appreciation to President Bola Tinubu, Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara, and other leaders for their roles in restoring democratic institutions in Rivers State following recent political turbulence.

PANDEF also called on the federal government to immortalise the late former Inspector General of Police, Dr. Solomon Arase, whose contributions to national unity and development it described as “invaluable.” It urged the government to name a major national monument in his honour.

Signed by Ambassador Igali, Edo State Chairman Prof. Alfred Ehigiegba, and National Publicity Secretary Chief Obiuwevbi Ominimini, the communiqué warned that continued federal neglect of the Niger Delta’s infrastructure and economic assets is no longer acceptable. “We have contributed immensely to Nigeria’s wealth; it is time the region received its due in development and dignity,” it declared.