Ijaw leader, politician and former Federal Commissioner of Information, Chief Edwin Clark, has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to immediately remove the non-Niger Delta Oil Producing states of Abia, Imo, Ondo and others from the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Act of the 2000.
The elder statesman equally demands that the President should as well amend Niger- Delta Development Commission Law to affect the change.
Clark made the call on Tuesday in a statement titled: “REQUEST TO MR. PRESIDENT BOLA AHMED TINUBU GCFR TO AMEND NIGER DELTA DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION (NDDC) LAW TO REMOVE NON-NIGER DELTA OIL PRODUCING STATES OF ABIA, IMO AND ONDO FROM THE NDDC ACT OF 2000”, which was made available to Thenetwork.
According to Clark, as the oldest stakeholders of the (NDDC) in the entire Niger Delta, it had become pertinent for him to revisit the issues leading to the inclusion of the three states in the NDDC which to garner the support of lawmakers from the zones.
He recalled how the South-South Peoples Conference (SSOPEC), group, held its meeting to hear the report of a 13 man Delegation to Abuja in August, 2000 where they met with Mr President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, and members of the National Assembly concerning amendments to the presidential Bill on the establishment of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
He said the meeting presided over the SSOPEC Chairman, HRM Pere (Dr) H.J.R. Dappa-Biriye and supported himself as the Deputy Chairman of SSOPEC, Chief E.K Clark proposed further amendments necessary to protect the interest of the Niger Delta people.
He explained that the meeting also registered the attendance of the late Obong Victor Attah, the then Executive Governor of Akwa-Ibom State, Sen. Fred Brume, Government Representatives of the South-South States, Traditional Rulers and Chiefs, Opinion Leaders, women groups, youth and Non-Governmental Organisation.
Clark stressed that the addition of Ondo, Imo and Abia States to the NDDC was a political aberration.
He noted that Cross Rivers State which was in the NDDC Act, was removed when Bakassi was ceded to Cameroon and Littoral Oil dispensation removed Wells in the High Seas.
The elder statesman also stated that the NDDC, unfortunately, like its predecessor, the Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission, OMPADEC, has failed to achieve its objectives.
Clark revealed that Northerners were opposed to the establishment of NDDC, and demanded Shiroro Dam Commission.
He recalled that President Obasanjo advised that the south should accept the Three Non-Niger Delta Oil producing States of Abia, Imo and Ondo State in order to have their added votes of the South-East and South-West Legislators for the Bill to succeed.
The elderstatesman said that was how the NDDC Bill included Imo State and Abia State from the South-East and Ondo State from South-West Nigeria.
He also called on President Tinubu to publish the report of the forensic audit of the NNDC.
“And I also request Mr. President to publish the report of the Forensic Audit for which the Federal Government spent so much money, an action which was hailed by Nigerians.
“I reliably learnt that the report was not submitted to Mr. President but to the Federal Attorney General, Mr. Abubakar Malami, who had already taken action by directing the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to probe some of the defaulted company found liable for the Forensic Report otherwise, the corruption in NDDC will continue particularly among the politicians both in National Assembly and the political parties.” He said
The full statement reads:
“I have taken it as my obligation to inform the Government and people of Nigeria the real situation leading to the establishment of NDDC; but regrettably and sorrowfully today, I am the oldest stakeholder of the (NDDC) in the entire Niger Delta under our group the South-South Peoples Conference (SSOPEC).
“At this juncture, I wish to quote an extract from the communiqué of one of the earliest meeting of our organisation, SSOPEC held at Petroleum Training Institute (PTI) Effurun, Warri Delta State which was ably attended by prominent personalities and Governors on 9th October 1999.;
“The meeting which was held to hear the report of the 13 man SSOPEC Delegation to Abuja in August to meet with Mr President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, GCFR and members of the National Assembly concerning amendments to the presidential Bill on the establishment of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC); and to propose further amendments necessary to protect the interest of the Niger Delta people was presided over by the SSOPEC Chairman, HRM Pere (Dr) H.J.R. Dappa-Biriye and supported by the Deputy Chairman of SSOPEC, Chief E.K Clark.
“The meeting also registered the attendance of His Excellency Obong Victor Attah, Executive Governor of Akwa-Ibom State, Government Representatives of the South-South States, Traditional Rulers and Chiefs, Opinion Leaders, women groups, youth and Non-Governmental Organisation”.
“Therefore without being immodest, I consider myself the oldest stakeholder of NDDC who is alive; but unfortunately, NDDC like OMPADEC has failed to achieve its objectives.
“At this juncture, it maybe necessary to state how the NDDC Bill included Imo State and Abia State from the South-East and Ondo State from South-West Nigeria.
“We fully participated when President Obasanjo the initiator of the Bill invited us; HRM (Dr) H.J.R. Dappa-Biriye (OON,JP), my humble self and Sen. Fred Brume as leaders and we went with some other leaders of the South-South Peoples Conference for dinner at Aso Rock, on the 22nd August 2000, and during that interaction with Mr President, we went through the drafted Bill of NDDC which he said he will later submit to the Attorney General of the Federation for necessary action; extracts of the discussion we had with him are reproduced hereunder;
“he informed us that Northerners were opposed to the establishment of NDDC, instead they also demanded Shiroro Dam Commission and President Obasanjo advised that we should accept the Three Non-Niger Delta Oil producing States of Abia, Imo and Ondo State in order to have their added votes of the South-East and South-West Legislators for the Bill to succeed.
“I also asked him if there is oil in Sokoto and that will Sokoto be part of the Niger Delta? And we moved on”.
Thereafter, we met the Representatives of the three (3) States at the National Assembly and they were very happy. We discussed the strategy that will contribute to the passing of the NDDC Bill and we did the lobbying together. Some vicious and unpatriotic Nigerians saw the establishment of the NDDC as a denial or deprivation of other Nigerians from enjoying the wealth that accrues from the oil resources from the Niger Delta.
It is noted that during the National Conference of 2014, we recommended the setting up of the North East Development Commission to rebuild the war devastating areas of North-East as it was done in Germany and the rest of Europe called the Marshall Plan after the second world war of 1939-1945.
“After the agreement with the members of the National Assembly from the three (3) Southern States, the joint committee went round to lobby National Assembly Members including the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the President of the Senate and Chairman of Appropriation Committee when President Obasanjo refused to sign his own Executive Bill which he presented to the National Assembly.
The National Assembly used their constitutional power and after thirty (30) days, they signed the Bill into law.
WHY I DEMAND FOR THE REMOVAL OF THE THREE (3) STATES FROM NDDC.
The NDDC Establishment Act 2000 signed by the 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. However, Cross Rivers State was in the NDDC Act, then Bakassi was removed to Cameroon and Littoral Oil dispensation removed Wells in the High Seas.
The final blow came with Akwa-Ibom State winning the ownership of the Oil wells on the Land in the Supreme Court. This has resulted in Cross Rivers being a zero contributor to the NDDC.
I will like to refer to the relevant sections of the Act in my write up;
Part I Section 4 of the NDDC Act states ‘The office of the Chairman shall rotate amongst the member states of the Commission in the following alphabetical order;
1. Abia State
2. Akwa-Ibom State
3. Bayelsa State
4. Cross-River State
5. Delta State
6. Edo State
7. Imo State
8. Ondo State
9. Rivers State’
Part II Section 7 Sub-Section 2 ‘in exercising its functions and powers under this section, the Commission shall have regard to the varied and specific contributions of each member state of the commission’.
Part IV Section 12 Sub-Section 1 ‘there shall be for the commission, a managing director, and the Executive Directors who shall be indigenes of oil producing areas starting with the member states of the Commission with the highest production quantum of oil and shall rotate amongst member states in the order of production’.
It is true that the law provided for the rotation of the Executive positions among the states based on the quantity of production but did not mention the sequence of rotation among the states. But the federal government decided that these Executive positions only rotate among the four majorities of oil producing states i.e. Delta, Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa and Rivers States based on equity, fair-play and justice because it will be unreasonable and chaotic to extend it to the minority oil producing states including Abia, Cross-River, Edo, Imo and Ondo. For instance, whereby, Imo is producing 1.02% of the total oil production by the nine states.
Under the rotation, the Chairmanship in accordance with the Act started with Abia State where Chief Onyema Ogochukwu became the pioneer chairman.
Thereafter, he was replaced by a representative from Akwa-Ibom State in person of Amb. Sam Edem. Bayelsa State took over from Akwa-Ibom State when Air Commodore Larry Koiyan was appointed. Cross-River took over after Bayelsa State and Sen. Bassey Ewa Henshaw was appointed and he did not finish his term when he was removed by the succeeding Federal Government and was replaced by Sen. Victor Ndoma-Egba.
After Cross River state, it will now the turn of Delta state, but what happened? Adams Oshiomhole recommended Pius Odubu, his former Deputy Governor when it was not yet the turn of Edo state to produce the Commission’s Chairman against the law that established the Commission.
Later, there were accusations and counter-accusations between the Interim Management Committee and the National Assembly where some of us were callously insulted that we the leaders of the Niger Delta looted NDDC treasury by award of contracts which were paid for, and never completed.
We the leaders and stakeholders of NDDC vowed at the time that we will no longer allow the corruption and the mess that characterized the Commission. The Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) under my leadership set up a committee to secretly and discreetly investigate the happenings in the NDDC.
Incidentally, the NDDC now reports to the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs instead of the Presidency via the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, but the transfer of the NDDC to the Ministry of Niger Delta has not been legalized.
The politicians from the Niger Delta including Sen. Adams Oshiomhole, Sen. Ovie Omo-Agege, Rt. Hon Rotimi Amaechi and Chief Timipre Sylva had appropriated the Board positions amongst themselves but later the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs now Senate President, Sen. Godswill Akpabio intervened and set up an interim committee and another set of illegal sole administrators, who held that position alone and singly operated the budget of the Commission amounting to billions of Naira for a period of about two years.
Again, a new board was put up by the same politicians, appointing the Managing Director from Bayelsa State and the Executive Director for Finance from Edo State, Maj. Gen Charles Arhiavbere and Executive Director for Project from Owo in Ondo State in the person of Charles Ogunmola and Chairmanship now reverted to Delta State with the appointment of Mrs. Lauretta Onochie and also created a position of Executive Director for Cooperate Services even though not provided for in the NDDC Act and appointed Ifedayo Adegunde from Ondo State.
The President Tinubu’s Government at last decided to correct the position and a new Board has now been set up in accordance with the NDDC Act. I repeat, by convention and understanding, the Federal Government has conveniently restricted the management position to the four (4) major oil producing states i.e. Delta State, Akwa-Ibom State, Bayelsa State and Rivers State.
The crisis has not died down because these three (3) non-Niger Delta States of Abia, Imo and Ondo are insisting that they must occupy the post of Managing Director and the two (2) Executive Director for finance and Executive Director for Project and for that Imo State oil producing community in a publication in Daily Sun newspaper on Thursday 12th October 2023 asked the court to stop the inauguration of Board members. An extract of the publication is reproduced hereunder;
“The indigenes of the oil-producing communities of Imo State have approached the Federal High Court for an order restraining and prohibiting President Bola Tinubu from swearing-in Dr Samuel Ogbuku, Mr Bona Iyaye, Mr Victor Antai and Ifedayo Abegunde or any other persons purported confirmed by the National Assembly as managing director and executive directors of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
In an originating summons filed before the Abuja division of the court by Hon. Ajoku Philip, Chief Jones Omereoha and Incorporated Trustees of Kingdom Human Rights International Foundation, the communities are contending that the appointment of director and executive directors of the NDDC offends the express provisions of section 12 (1) of the NDDC Act and is therefore illegal, unconstitutional, null, void and of no effect whatsoever for non-compliance with the provisions of the law.
Besides President Tinubu, others listed as defendants are the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), the National Assembly and the Niger Delta Development Commission.
In addition, the plaintiffs through their counsel, Okere Kingdom Nnamdi are seeking an order of court compelling/mandating president to immediately withdraw the nomination of Dr Samuel Ogbuku, Mr. Bona Iyaye, Mr Victor Antai and Ifedayo Abegunde as Managing Director and Executive Directors of the Niger Delta Development Commission respectively; and to immediately appoint/nominate indigenes of oil producing communities from Imo State, Cross Rivers State and Edo who have not previously held the positions managing directors and executive directors as mandated in section 12 (1) of the NDDC Act, and such other orders as the Court may deem fit to make in the circumstance of the case.”
It is true that the NDDC Act provides for the appointment of Managing Director and the two Executive Directors; Executive Director Finance Administration and Executive Director Projects. For all other activities of the NDDC, the Act lays emphasis on quantity of production of each state.
It is the same spirit Presidency felt that appointment of staff and infrastructural development by the commission should be determined by the quantity of oil each state produce.
But today, the struggle between the management and the three minority oil producing states for equal distribution of appointment and infrastructural development, and in fact, there are more staff from the three non Niger Delta state combined and the infrastructural development in equal basis.
This is the current production level of NDDC States as shown here below;
State Derivation Paid (₦) % of total Oil Production
For September
Delta 4,707,606,030 32.59%
Akwa Ibom 2,782,505,517 19.26%
Bayelsa 2,757,393,744 19.09%
Rivers 2,723,353,999 18.85%
Edo 622,163,972 4.31%
Ondo 417,160,038 2.89%
Imo 147,324,004 1.02%
Abia 109,627,047 0.76%
Cross River NIL 0%
SOURCE: Office of Accountant General of the Federation.
At this Juncture, it maybe necessary to liken this quantity of Oil produced to a Ltd. Liability Company which also has majority shareholders and minority shareholders. It is not possible for a minority shareholder of even 5% to be the Chairman or Managing Director of the Ltd Liability Company.
It will be unfair and inequitable for a State that produces 1.02% to produce Managing Director of the NDDC. I know Nigeria as we are, the tendency will be to develop his 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% of the Oil.
It is therefore unreasonable, provocative and selfish for Imo State which produces only 1.02% quantum of Oil to demand removal of the Chief Executives of NDDC Board that has been confirmed by the Senate.
NDDC should remain the six original Niger Delta Coastal States. All other Oil producing States should establish a relationship with the oil companies and the Federal Republic of Nigeria, particularly 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.
Finally, all the supervising Committees of both National Assembly and Board Committees have not been alive to their mandates. Their only interests have been in Projects and Finance.
This was the catalyst for the rot in the NDDC. This circle of rottenness must STOP! And I also request Mr. President to publish the report of the Forensic Audit for which the Federal Government spent so much money, an action which was hailed by Nigerians.
I reliably learnt that the report was not submitted to Mr. President but to the Federal Attorney General, Mr. Abubakar Malami, who had already taken action by directing the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to probe some of the defaulted company found liable for the Forensic Report otherwise, the corruption in NDDC will continue particularly among the politicians both in National Assembly and the political parties.
CHIEF (DR.) E.K. CLARK OFR, CON
CONVENER ANDLEADER PAN NIGER DELTA FORUM (PANDEF)
