The Senate has rejected a move to include Anambra State in the membership of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
The rejection led to bickering between Senators Tony Nwoye (LP Anambra North) and Jibrin Isah (APC Kogi East).
Senator Nwoye, in his lead debate on the bill seeking for amendment of the NDDC Act for inclusion of Anambra State, being an oil producing state, argued that Anambra deserved to be a member of NDDC since it has been collecting the 13 percent derivation fund since 2021 on account of appreciable volume of oil production.
But most of the senators who contributed to the debate on the bill, kicked against Senator Nwoye’s argument on the grounds that states like Kogi and Lagos States are not covered by NDDC operations despite being oil producing states.
However, drama started when Senator Isah said NDDC, as its name suggests, is more of a regional or geographical intervention body.
He said his state (Kogi), has also been collecting the 13 percent derivation fund as an oil producing state, a claim Senator Nwoye countered, declaring, documents in his hand, that Anambra, not Kogi, has been collecting the derivation fund.
“Mr President and distinguished colleagues, Anambra as an oil producing state has been collecting 13% derivation from oil exploited from her wells by the federal government since 2021, and eminently deserves to be included in the operational radius of NDDC.
“Kogi State was also declared as an oil producing state, but has not been collecting any 13% derivation,” he said.
Irked by the submission, Senator Isah furiously took to the floor by admonishing Senator Nwoye to limit his argument to Anambra State and allow the Senate to decide the fate of his bill.
“Senator Nwoye with all due respect, please stop dragging Kogi State into your argument for membership of Anambra State in NDDC. Kogi State is an oil producing State and has also been collecting 13% derivation since October 2022,” he said.
In a bid to ensure calm, the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, said if Senator Nwoye’s argument is to be accepted by the Senate, then Lagos State, which has two oil wells in Badagry, will also clamour for membership of the NDDC.
On Senator Nwoye’s argument that Anambra’s proximity to the Niger Delta qualifies it to be a member of NDDC, Akpabio said that decision would be left to the National Boundary Commission to make.
The Senate president accordingly put the passage of the bill for second reading to a voice vote, which was overwhelmingly opposed by senators.
