A group, the Centre For Justice And Fairness In Niger Delta (CFJFIND), Ondo State, has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari not to extend the tenure of the current board members of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
Its Chairman, Mr Alex Kalejaiye, made the call at a press briefing in Akure on Friday.
The tenure of the current board members of NDDC is to end this December.
Kalejaiye said that it was the turn of another state, not Akwa Ibom, to produce the next NDDC Managing Director after the expiration of the tenure of the current board on December 8.
“No state should be denied its rights to occupy the offices assigned to it by the NDDC Act. Those making such dangerous moves should be wary of their actions,” he said.
According to him, the commission comprises of nine member states of Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Ondo, Edo, Imo, Abia, Cross-River and Rivers, while the management positions is rotational among member states.
“It is on record that since the establishment of the commission over 17 years ago, only four states have rotated the top three management positions among themselves – they are Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers States.
“There is nothing in the NDDC Act, 2000 that provides special attention for the four big states. The phrase four big states is the invention of some cabals in the NDDC to oppress the other five states.
“The Federal Government should not give in to this surreptitious manipulation or modification of the NNDC Act.
“None of the states in the NDDC is inferior to the other states.
“While some states may have higher production quantum, this does not in any way imply that the right due to the other states must be trampled up on.”
He said that there should be equality of states in the sharing of the three top management positions in the commission.
“As at now, it is the turn of Ondo State to produce the next Managing Director of the NDDC.
“This is so because Ondo State is the 5th highest oil producing state in NDDC.
“Since all the states that have higher production of oil than Ondo State have produced the managing director at one time or the other, it follows that the provision of Section 12(1) supra, Ondo State must of necessity produce the managing director for the next board to be constituted.
“This is the way it should go if the inequity in the NDDC is to be corrected,” he said.
