Members of the Senate on Tuesday unanimously rejected a bill seeking to amend the Niger Delta Development Commission Act Cap N86 laws of Nigeria by proposing the recognition of Anambra State as an oil producing state.
Sponsor of the bill, Senator Andy Uba, has hinged his action on the declaration by President Goodluck Jonathan that Anambra had joined the League of oil producing states in the country.
Uba said Jonathan made the statement while inaugurating the Orient Petroleum’s Anambra River Production facility in Aguleri-Olu, on August 31, 2012.
He said with Jonathan’s pronouncement, Anambra had since “joined the oil bearing states of Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Imo, Edo and Ondo states, as home to the nation’s oil installations and a rich wet land.”
Andy said, “These communities account for 93 per cent of the country’s export earnings and provide the economic lifeline that sustains the Nigerian state and as a result of which this amendment is being sought for Anambra to be part and parcel of the NDDC”
He told his colleagues that the integration of Anambra as part of the NDDC states was necessary to avoid the violent conflicts that accompanied all oil exploration activities which include environmental degradation.
He said, “Evidently, there is no gain saying the fact that the amendments will assist in no small measure in creating an enabling environment for the operation of oil exploration activities in the oil bearjng communities of Anambra state.
“The inclusion of the state as a member state in the NDDC will douse the violent agitation that would have aroused from these communities for government projects.”
Uba added that the objective of the bill was also to ensure the socio-economic development of the host communities where oil installations are located and the general development of the entire Anambra state.
Although, Uba concluded that the bill was not controversial, senators who made contributions on the floor, disagreed with him because they noted that a mere pronouncement from Jonathan, which was not based on any empirical fact, was not enough to make Anambra, an oil producing state.
For instance, Senator Attai Ali said he opposed the bill because the issue of delineation between Kogi, Anambra and Enugu states which shared common boundaries with the oil installation, was still ongoing.
He urged his colleagues to reject the bill because the three states were still laying claims to the ownership of the oil facility.
Also Senator Ayogu Eze, disagreed with the bill and explained that Jonathan had admitted that he made the pronouncement ascribed to him by Uba.
According to him, the Jonathan’s statement degenerated into crisis between the states that shared common boundaries where the facility was located, which the president to set up a committee, led by the Vice – President, Namadi Sambo, to address the situation. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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