The Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to hasten assent to the South-South Development Commission Bill currently before him.
The forum also demanded that the next Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) be appointed from the Niger Delta region.
Additionally, PANDEF urged the federal government to revamp the existing ports in the Niger Delta states, arguing that the region occupies the largest portion of Nigeria’s coastline and has a natural comparative advantage.
Henzodaily gathered that these demands were contained in a communique issued at the end of PANDEF’s Board of Trustees (BoT) meeting in Abuja.
Reading the communique during a press conference on Monday, PANDEF National Spokesman, Olorogun Obiuwevbi Ominimini, stressed the urgent need for the president’s assent.
“The non-signing of this law could have a negative impact on the present state of peace which exists in the Niger Delta,” he said.
Withholding Assent A ‘Grave Oversight’
Ominimini further described the withholding of assent as a “grave oversight or error” that could foster feelings of exclusion among the people of the South-South region.
He stated, “We therefore view this withholding of assent as a grave oversight or error, capable of creating a feeling of exclusion and dejection on the part of the people of the South-South.
“PANDEF BoT, therefore, calls on Mr President to remedy the oversight which has resulted in the delay to assent to this bill and sign it without delay as this is the only fair and just manner of treating the South-South zone as bonafide citizens of this country who deserve not to be discriminated against.”
Henzodaily reports that the National Assembly had passed the bill for the establishment of the South South Development Commission, but President Tinubu is yet to sign it into law.