Engr. Ezonebi Oyakemeagbegha, Publicity Secretary of the Ijaw National Congress (INC) has said the Ijaw nation will vehemently resist any attempt by the National Assembly to expand the coverage area of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to include non-oil producing states.

Oyakemeagbegha, while reacting to a motion raised on the floor of the Senate by Senator Adeola Solomon to include Lagos, Bauchi, Ogun, among others, as part of the NDDC with a frivolous reason of discovery of oil in such states, said there was no iota of truth in that claim.

The INC spokesman stated this while fielding questions from journalists at Warri Delta State noted that the Niger Delta region was geographically defined, well established and as contained in the report of Sir Henry Willink commission of 1957, therefore wondered the motive of the Senators to include states that were not in the Niger Delta region to the jurisdiction of the interventionist agency.

“This is a despicable move,
It is absurd that a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria who is believed to be abreast of the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) and a Lawmaker for that matter, will come up with such a bill to include states in the North and West as part of the Niger Delta, just on a claim of the discovery of oil in such states.

“It is essential to emphasize that the NDDC was established to address the age-long impact of oil exploration and exploitation on the region and the degradation that such activities have caused, he said.

The INC spokesman added that such Senators might be benefitting from the crisis and unrest in some parts of the country, noting that a move of such as including the listed northern and western states as part of the Niger Delta region was capable of igniting unrest in the country.

Oyakemeagbegha recalled that only
recently the Senate passed the Petroleum Industry Bill and robbed the host communities by reducing funds accruing to them from 30%, which they demanded, to 3% and redefined host communities to include communities with no trace of oil production, describing the current move as further aggression which would be highly resisted.

“I am sure these people are taking our meekness for weakness, but that is certainly not the case because when you don’t want to allow a sleeping dog to lie, then be ready for its bite.

“President Buhari and the nation should hold Senator Adeola Solomon and his cohorts responsible for whatever action that we may take as a consequence of his move. Enough is enough”, the INC spokesman affirmed.