Senators from the South South geo- political zone have vehemently kicked against moves by the Senate to include Lagos, Ogun, Bauchi and others that have attained the status of oil producing states into the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC. The Senators’ position came up at the Senate during the consideration of a Bill for an Act to Amend the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC Act No. 62000 and for other matters connected therewith, 2021( SB 273) and sponsored by Senator Olamilekan Adeola. Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ovie Omo- Agege; Senator Matthew Urhoghide, and Senator George Thompson Sekibo, berated the move, just as Omo- Agege had to describe Senator Adeola as a classic meddlesome interloper and advised his colleague to intensify efforts for the creation of South West Development Commission.
According to Senators Omo- Agege; Urhoghide and Sekibo, NDDC was created to address the environmental degradation caused by oil exploration in the region. They asked Senator Adeola to pursue the establishment of a commission to address developmental issues in the south west instead of seeking to make Lagos and others members of NDDC. In spite on the stiff opposition to the Bill by the Senators from the Oil producing, the Bill seeking for an amendment to the NDDC Act to accommodate the said states, scaled second reading. President of the Senate, Senator Ahmad Lawan then referred the bill to the Senator Peter Nwaoboshi, APC, Delta North for further legislative action and report back at plenary in four weeks. The bill, sponsored by Senator Adeola seeks for the inclusion of Lagos, Ogun, Bauchi and others that have attained the status of oil producing states into NDDC.
The nine states captured in the NDDC Act are: Cross River, Edo, Delta, Abia, Imo, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa-Ibom and Ondo. In his lead debate on the general principles of the Bill, Senator Adeola noted that Bauchi, Lagos and Ogun have officially joined the league of oil producing states following the discovery of crude oil in Alkaleri, Badagry, Lagos, and Ipokia, respectively. Adeola said, Mr. President, Distinguished Colleagues, permit me to lead the debate on this important Bill to amend the Niger Delta Development Commission Act no 6 2000 for the inclusion of new all producing areas and states and for other matters connected therewith. “This Bill was first presented by myself and it was read for the first time in this Hallowed Chamber on Tuesday 17th December, 2019. This Bill seeks to amend the Niger Delta Development Commission Act 2000 to include states that have attained the status of Oil Producing States with similar circumstances as those listed in the Act when it was passed. In this era of change where government is desirous of raising revenues for development the discovery of crude oil in new states in the country can only amount to additional revenue for the government.
“Following the discovery of Oil in Bauchi, Lagos and Ogun, these states have officially joined the League of Oil Producing States in Nigeria following the discovery of crude oil in Alkaleri Local Government, Bauchi; Badagry, Lagos, and Ipokia, Ogun state. By virtue of this, the states are entitled to the 13 percent derivation that is due to oil producing states according to the provision of Section 162 Sub-Section 2 of the Nigeria Constitution. “Mr. President, the purport of this Bill is for the Act to make provision for new states who has joined the leagues of Oil producing states in Nigeria and for states that might eventually discover oil in the Future as opposed to the present position of the Act which only covers Oil producing states within the Niger Delta region. Furthermore, the inclusion of the new oil producing states in the Act saves costs and follows precedence. In conclusion, this amendment is to accord the same provisions of the law amongst other benefits accrued to oil producing states in Nigeria to the new oil producing states and future oil producing states.
