Daniel Abia's

The Niger Delta region's oil and gas communities have urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to remove the Niger Delta Affairs Ministry in order to spare the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, from perpetual financial problems.

The oil industry observed that in order to give the NDDC a sense of purpose and avoid undue intervention in its daily operations, the NDDC must be freed from the Ministry's stranglehold and its finances allocated to the Commission's coffers.

Joseph Ambakederimo spoke shortly after President Tinubu announced the new NDDC board on Tuesday night in Port Harcourt, Rivers state. Convener of the South-South Reawakening Group (SSRG) and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Community Development Committees of Niger Delta Oil and Gas Producing Areas, CDC, stated that such a decision was required to enable the NDDC to execute to the best of its abilities within the constraints of available resources.

Ambakederimo, on the other hand, stated that President Bola Tinubu's reappointment of Dr. Samuel Ogbuku demonstrates his understanding of the issues confronting the oil-producing areas of the Niger Delta. "Dr. Samuel Ogbuku's policy direction, as articulated in the last eight months of his leadership, must have resonated well with the President's aspiration for the region, leading the President to settle for his leadership."

He stated that in order to avoid political meddling, "we urge the President to domicile the NDDC in the office of the secretary to the government of the federation, as it was previously." The NDDC cannot be bound by the Ministry of Niger Delta Development's apron strings. Because of unholy involvement, the Ministry is a diversion for the NDDC.

"We believe that this current board should be allowed to serve out its full term so that we can begin to hold them accountable." Anything less is destructive to the growth of oil-producing areas.

"Because the Federal government's fifteen percent contribution has become insufficient, we urge the President to immediately send an executive bill amending relevant sections of the NDDC establishment Act to increase its share of contribution to 25%."

According to him, the oil and gas companies' 3% payment should be increased to 10%, while money due to the NDDC from the part of ecological funds distributed to states should be increased from 50% to 70%, and a significant portion of the gas flare charge should be paid to the Commission.

Ambakederimo urged President Tinubu to "scrap the Ministry of Niger Delta Development because the MNDD has failed miserably since its inception twelve years ago, with no verifiable project traceable to it, including having overlapping functions with the NDDC." Channel the MNDD's financial contribution to the NDDC for appropriate utilization of money for development infrastructure and capacity building of the region's young.

SHOP HERE

"It is the NDDC that reaches the most remote communities that produce oil and gas, which power the Nigerian economy." These communities face the burden of environmental destruction. As a result, more funding should be transferred to the NDDC in order to continue providing infrastructure development and a higher quality of life to the residents of these villages."