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From Fred Itua, Abuja
A group under the auspices of Niger Delta Development Association (NDDA) has asked Senate President Godswill Akpabio to appoint a senator from Delta state to head one of the standing committees of the 10th Assembly Senate.
The group led by its National convener, Iteveh Nur’ Ekpokpobe at a media briefing on Wednesday in Abuja said the composition of the committees in the Senate falls short of the expectation of the people of Delta State.
He said Delta State as one of the highest oil producing states in the country deserves more than what is currently allocated to it.
“We frown at the constitution of the committees in the Senate, while some states have more than one, Delta has none.
“This is calculated affront to the people of the state when juxtaposed with our contribution to the development of Nigeria with resources from Delta State,” He said.
Ekpokpobe further said the entire state is yet to come to terms with the decision of the leadership of the Senate to exclude the state’s Senators from chairmanship of committees in the Senate.
According to him, “out of seventy four committees in the Senate, states in the south south region like Cross River got three, Rivers State has two, Akwa Ibom State has two, Edo and Bayelsa states have one each while Delta State has none at all.”
The group accused the Senate President of favouring some states in the region while others were neglected.
”Despite the fact that Delta has some of the most credible senators, we find it difficult to believe that this could happen as an omission,” he maintains.
The group said upon return from the recess, it expects that the anomalies are corrected in order not to create the impression that some states in the federation are not left behind.
The convener therefore asked the senate president to correct the “mistake.”
“Ordinarily, if two committees are allocated to the 36 states each, there would still be two more to go.This means invariably that there is really no reason why a state cannot get at least one committee.
“We also wish to state here, categorically, that a state like Delta state is too important in the scheme of things in Nigeria to be relegated so much so.
“We look forward to a kind and swift response of the senate leadership, in order to avert unnecessary agitators that may degenerate to breakdown of law and order in the region,” Iteveh added.
