A/Ibom, Rivers in Fresh Battle over NDDC’s Top Position
- By Ekaette Okon
- Published July 2nd, 2009
- News
- Unrated
THERE are indications that the governments of Akwa Ibom and Rivers States may engage in a fresh battle over the appointment of their candidates as the new managing director of the yet to be reconstituted board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), BusinessWorld Intelligence can reveal.
This development is fuelled by speculations that the President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua will, in compliance with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution and the NDDC Act of 2000, soon forward the names of members of the new board of the commission to the Senate for consideration.
The Act spelt out that while the position of the chairman of the commission would rotate in alphabetical order among the nine states identified as Abia, Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross Rivers, Delta, Edo, Ondo, Imo and River States, that of the managing director would go round the producing states in accordance with the oil production capacity of the aforementioned states.
Following the rise in the production quota of Akwa Ibom state since January 2008 when the Niger Delta crisis stalled the production of crude oil in major facilities located in Rivers State and other parts of the region coupled with the return of about 186 oil wells to the state early this year, Akwa Ibom is believed to have become the largest producer of crude oil among the oil producing states of the region which places it at a vantage position to clinch the NDDC MD position.
But insider sources say the Rivers State government has forwarded the name of one Mr. Chibuzor Ogugua, to the presidency for screening as its candidate for the post and that the State Security Service (SSS) has screened the names of all the nominees for the board forwarded to it by the presidency.
This has drawn a barrage of petitions from prominent groups and top leaders of the state to the presidency. Among such groups is the Ibibio Leaders Council, made up of senior citizens from Akwa-Ibom state, who have petitioned President Yar’Adua over the ceding of the office of the managing director of NDDC to Rivers state, which, it insisted, contravened the provisions of the NDDC [Establishment, etc] Act 2000 and claimed that the president was misguided in giving his assent for Rivers state candidate.
Senator Aloysius Akpan Etok, chairman, Senate Committee on Rules and Business, also petitioned the president in a letter dated May 6, 2009. “A perusal of this endorsement will reveal that it is now the turn of Akwa-Ibom State to produce the MD of NDDC in line with the NDDC Act 2000. I, therefore, most respectfully request your good offices to uphold the rule of law and ensure that justice is done in the re-constitution of the NDDC board,’’ Etok said in the letter.
This development is fuelled by speculations that the President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua will, in compliance with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution and the NDDC Act of 2000, soon forward the names of members of the new board of the commission to the Senate for consideration.
The Act spelt out that while the position of the chairman of the commission would rotate in alphabetical order among the nine states identified as Abia, Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross Rivers, Delta, Edo, Ondo, Imo and River States, that of the managing director would go round the producing states in accordance with the oil production capacity of the aforementioned states.
Following the rise in the production quota of Akwa Ibom state since January 2008 when the Niger Delta crisis stalled the production of crude oil in major facilities located in Rivers State and other parts of the region coupled with the return of about 186 oil wells to the state early this year, Akwa Ibom is believed to have become the largest producer of crude oil among the oil producing states of the region which places it at a vantage position to clinch the NDDC MD position.
But insider sources say the Rivers State government has forwarded the name of one Mr. Chibuzor Ogugua, to the presidency for screening as its candidate for the post and that the State Security Service (SSS) has screened the names of all the nominees for the board forwarded to it by the presidency.
This has drawn a barrage of petitions from prominent groups and top leaders of the state to the presidency. Among such groups is the Ibibio Leaders Council, made up of senior citizens from Akwa-Ibom state, who have petitioned President Yar’Adua over the ceding of the office of the managing director of NDDC to Rivers state, which, it insisted, contravened the provisions of the NDDC [Establishment, etc] Act 2000 and claimed that the president was misguided in giving his assent for Rivers state candidate.
Senator Aloysius Akpan Etok, chairman, Senate Committee on Rules and Business, also petitioned the president in a letter dated May 6, 2009. “A perusal of this endorsement will reveal that it is now the turn of Akwa-Ibom State to produce the MD of NDDC in line with the NDDC Act 2000. I, therefore, most respectfully request your good offices to uphold the rule of law and ensure that justice is done in the re-constitution of the NDDC board,’’ Etok said in the letter.
