Yenagoa — Bayelsa State government has opposed the proposed amendment to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Act in which member states would contribute more to the funding of the commission describing it as premature and not in the interest of the nation's democracy.
The state governor, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha who stated this at a public hearing on the NDDC Act 2000 amendment Bill held in Yenagoa yesterday however called on the federal government to install economic justice and eliminate inequity in resource allocation so as to enhance developmental investment in the Niger Delta stressing that the 10 per cent contribution from the member states to the funding of the commission being canvassed by the federal government was unacceptable to the region.
Said he: "we believe that the proposed amendment to the NDDC Act is premature and it is in the interest of democracy that the existing law be allowed to play itself out before far-reaching amendments are suggested.”
According to him, the commission, a federal government body since it was established specifically to develop the Niger Delta and with the state governments have their own commitments to the development of their individual states it would be unfair, therefore, to ask the states to bear the burden of funding a body over which they do not exercise control.
Chief Alamieyeseigha who described the Niger Delta as holding the ace in a delicate balance of power and the key to the stability of the country, thereby making the sustainable development of the region non-negotiable lamented that one of major causes of agitations in the oil producing states was the inadequacy of federal allocation to address development in spite of its difficult terrain.
“To seek direct assistance from already disgruntled states governments is not helping matters. For the sake of peace and stability therefore, the federal government should take its responsibility seriously”, he said adding that a cardinal point in the amendment bill is that the federal government contribution to the NDDC should be reduced from 15 per cent to 10 per cent.
“Again, we insist that the government at the centre should not contribute anything less than 15 per cent to the funding of the commission and in like manner the quota for oil companies should be increased to 5 per cent from the existing 3 per cent rather than being reduced to 2 per cent as being requested.”
