Nigeria

Lagos may become part of NDDC as House of Reps begins move

Thursday, January 23, 2020 at 12:56 PM by Khadijah Thabit

- Lagos, a south-west state of Nigeria may soon become a member of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC)

- The latest move is because of the discovery of deposits of oil in the state

- A bill before the House of Representatives and sponsored by a lawmaker is considering an amendment to the law setting up the NDDC

If the move by the House of Representatives scales through, then Lagos state will join others which make up the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

The move is being championed through a bill to add the state to the agency with the original mandate of assisting in the development of oil-producing states in the country.

The bill seeks to amend the act creating the NDDC to give legal backing to the addition and is said to be sponsored by Babatunde Hunpe, a lawmaker from Lagos.

The argument for the inclusion of Lagos is said to be that it has been named an oil-producing state after deposits of petroleum products were discovered in the state some years ago.

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Vanguard reports that the initial mandate of the NDDC was the development of the south-south and the south-east.

States on the list of the commission are Abia, Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Imo, Ondo, Edo and Rivers states.

The president, Olusegun Obasanjo, had rejected the bill when it was passed by the National Assembly for the creation of the NDDC in 2000.

The lawmakers then went ahead to veto the president and pass it and Onyeama Ugochukwu from Abia state emerged its pioneer managing director.

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Legit.ng reports that President Muhammadu Buhari, on Thursday, December 19, announced that the board of the NDDC would be reconstituted.

The report quoted a statement by Femi Adesina, the president's spokesperson, as saying the recomposition of the new board would take place after the ongoing forensic audit of the commission which is entangled in alleged corruption web.