October 24, (THEWILL) – Elder Statesman, Chief Edwin Clark, has faulted the inclusion of Imo, Abia and Ondo as member states of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
The NDDC was created by former President Olusegun Obasanjo after years of agitation by the people of the Niger Delta for a special interventionist agency to cater for the development of the region but included Imo, Abia and Ondo as members.
Clark told newsmen in Abuja, on Tuesday, that even though Imo, Abia and Ondo States are crude oil-producing states, they do not fall into the geographic region referred to as Niger Delta, and therefore, should not be benefiting from funds specifically earmarked for the development of the region.
He said the States were included in the first place in the 2000 NDDC Act for convenience, but a political aberration.
Clark urged President Bola Tinubu to re-enact a new bill that will exclude Ondo, Imo and Abia from the NDDC.
His words: “If NDDC is to succeed, the three states should be severed from the act. NDDC should remain the six original Niger Delta Coastal States. All other oil-producing states should establish a relationship with the oil companies and Nigeria.
“This is particularly true now that oil has been found in other parts of Nigeria, including Anambra, which is already producing 0.9%, Bauchi, Gombe, Nasarawa, Kogi, and Lagos States. They cannot, therefore, be part of NDDC.
“The NDDC Establishment Act 2000 signed by the then Senate President, Chuba Okadigbo, outlined the functions of the nine states and who should be the Executive Management.
“One should bear in mind that the addition of Ondo, Imo and Abia was a political aberration. For me to demand the removal of Non-Niger Delta Oil Producing States from NDDC is for NDDC to succeed. The success of the NDDC is the success of Nigeria.
“There was a reason why Imo, Abia and Ondo were brought into NDDC. Geographically, they are not Niger Delta; they are not coastal states. It was a political aberration.
“The Federal Government should make arrangements to accommodate them as it is in NDCC same principle to be used not to disorganise the NDDC we want to succeed.
“A situation where a minority shareholder in a limited liability company would like to be a managing director of the company is unreasonable, improper and chaotic. That is the main reason why I said no.
“It is not possible for a minority shareholder of even 5 per cent to be the Chairman or Managing Director of the limited liability company. It will be unfair and inequitable for a state that produces 1.02 per cent to produce a managing director of the NDDC.
“I know Nigeria as we are, the tendency will be to develop their own minority oil-producing state to develop their area at the expense of the majority of oil-producing states, which incidentally happen to sum up to over 90 per cent of the oil.
“It is, therefore, unreasonable, provocative and selfish for Imo, which produces only 1.02 per cent quantum of oil, to demand removal of the Chief Executives of NDDC Board that has been confirmed by the Senate.”
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