SENATE REJECTS BILL FOR AN ACT TO RECOGNISE ANAMBRA AS AN NDDC STATE

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The Senate on Wednesday rejected a Bill seeking to include Anambra among states in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) mandate area.

The Bill titled: “A Bill for an Act to amend the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Act to make provision for the inclusion of Anambra State as one of the member state and for other connected matters thereto, 2024”, was sponsored by Senator Tony Nwoye of Anambra state. 

Nwoye argued that Anambra deserved to be a member of NDDC states having been collecting 13 per cent derivation since 2021 on account of oil production in the state on yearly basis.

Some Senators debated against the Bill by pointing out that states like Kogi and Lagos were not covered by NDDC operations despite being oil- producing states.

Specifically, Senator Jibrin Isah noted that NDDC, by its name, was more of a regional or geographical interventionist body and not just an amalgam of oil producing states.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio, who intervened, stated that if the argument of Senator Nwoye on proposed membership of Anambra state in NDDC was to be accepted by the Senate, then Lagos state with two oil wells in Badagry, would also advocate for membership of the Commission. 

Senators at the plenary voted against the Bill when it was put to voice vote and it was subsequently thrown out.

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