From John Adams, Minna
The Managing Director of the newly established Hydro Power Producing Areas Development Commission (HYPPADEC), Alhaji Abubakar Sadiq Yelwa, has said that three more states from the north, namely Taraba, Gombe and Kaduna have applied to be included in the commission.
This request, when approved, will bring the member states in the Commission to nine barely one year after it was established.
Already the Commission has six member states which include Niger, Kebbi, Benue, Plateau, Kogi and Kwara.
The Managing Director of the Commission Alhaji Abubakar Sadiq Yelwa disclosed this in Minna on Wednesday at the inauguration of the headquarters building of the Commission and the presentation of 12 utility vehicles by Niger State Governor Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello.
According to Yelwa, the Commission has received the applications from the three states and had already begun drafting an amendment to the existing legislation to accommodate the new entrants which will be sent to the National Assembly for passage before being sent to the President for assent.
Section 3 sub-section 6 of the law establishing the Commission has made it possible for any state with Hydro Dam to be absorbed into the organisation.
Yelwa noted that the states that would soon join the commission are as a result of devastating effects of environmental and ecological impacts of flooding as a result of the activities of hydro dams in the states stressing that, while Kaduna State will be included in the Commission because it contributes from River Kaduna to the yet to be completed Zungeru Hydro dam in Niger State, Taraba State is already on its way to hosting the biggest hydroelectric dam in Nigeria, adding that Gombe is also at the receiving end of the impact of flooding and other ecological problems.
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He further disclosed that the Commission is partly being funded with 50% of the ecological funds accruable to member states and 10% of the Internally Generated Revenue of generating Companies monthly.
Yelwa added that six states and 12 areas offices have been opened in the benefiting states with 12 operational Vehicles distributed.
Chairman of the Commission governing council, Hon Joseph Terfa Ityav in an address commended President Muhammad Buhari for ensuring that the Commission was not only established on paper but becomes operational.
Inaugurating the building and vehicles Governor Abubakar Sani Bello observed that HYPPADEC has brought succour to communities suffering from the perennial ecological impact of flooding adding that the take-off of the Commission has brought relief to Niger flood plain communities.
Governor Bello pledged that his administration will continue to lend support to federal organisations and their staff in the state.
The HYPPADEC head office was renovated at over N303m while the Commission took off in January 2021.