Admin l Wednesday, October 06, 2021
PORT HARCOURT, Rivers, Nigeria – Governor of the South-South under the auspices of BACED states have called on President Muhammadu Buhari to inaugurate the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC in line with the Act setting up the commission.
The demand was contained in a communiqué signed by the governors of the region, Dr. Ifeanyi O. Okowa(Delta), Senator Douye Diri (Bayelsa), Chief Nyesom E. Wike(Rivers) Chief Emmanuel Udom (Akwa Ibom) and Mr Godwin N. Obaseki, (Edo) after their meeting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
The governors expressed the hope that the Federal Government would make the forensic audit report public and deal justly and fairly with the report with a view to strengthening the capacity of the NDDC to meet its obligations to the people of the region.
The governors noted that most of the BRACED states have established their state security organs, approved the regional security architecture adding that the outfit would be launched soon.
The governors unequivocally threw their support for the decision of states to collect Value Added Tax (VAT) and resolved to join the suit before the Supreme Court. The Council urged the President and the National Assembly to take necessary measures to review some unfair aspects of the recently signed Petroleum Industry Bill to ensure fairness and equity.
Specifically, the governors said the amendment should include a clear definition of host communities and that the trustees should be appointed by State Governments.
The council regretted that the President and the Federal Government had generally failed to give reasoned consideration to requests made by the region during the dialogue with a special Federal delegation led by Professor Ibrahim Gambari, Chief of Staff to the President.
“Notable among the requests were the relocation of NNPC subsidiaries and IOCs headquarters to the Niger Delta and the completion of a number of Federal projects in the region, notably, roads”.
