The Pan-Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, has rejected President Bola Tinubu’s decision to scrap the Ministry of Niger Delta.
PANDEF’s decision was contained in a communique issued at
the end of a meeting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, where the Forum’s General
Assembly noted with “serious concern the scrapping of the Ministry of Niger
Delta which was established to address specific issues bordering on the peculiar
circumstances of the Niger Delta, it’s damaged environment and its overall
importance to the national economy.”
PANDEF, led by elder statesman, Pa Edwin Clark, said the
Ministry was dissolved without due consideration to those specific circumstances
that led to its creation.
It also said there was no due consultation with the critical stakeholders in the region and beyond.
“PANDEF, therefore, calls on the federal government to
further discuss this matter with a view to addressing several specific
concerns, especially at a time when the government is pursuing policies to
radically increase oil production,” it added.
“The Assembly welcomes the proposed South-South Commission
to supplement existing Federal Agencies.
“However, the name of the Niger Delta Development Commission
(NÐDC) should reflect its functions and the actual membership,” it stated.
On matters specific to the Niger Delta region, the Assembly
called on the state governments to fully utilise the revenues from the 13%
derivation to undertake the various critical programmes.
“These include roads like East-West Highway and the existing
seven seaports in the area not being operated.
“To remedy the situation, the Assembly calls on the Federal
Government to repair all failed roads, complete the East-West Highway, commence
the building of the Calabar-Lagos railway, and set up a maritime mass transit
system for the riverine areas of the Niger Delta,” PANDEF demanded.
DAILY POST recalls that a bill to create the South South
Development Commission, SSDC, passed its second reading in the Senate last
week.
The bill was sponsored by Senator Ekpeyong Asuquo from Cross
River South.
The bill came up after five other similar ones for other
geopolitical zones were signed into law.
Recalll that President Tinubu and the Federal Executive
Council, FEC, announced the scrapping of the Niger Delta Ministry and the
Ministry of Sports Development.
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