Senate to summon IOCs over non-remittance to NDDC

Senate Committee on Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) on Thursday decried the non-payment of funds owed the commission by International Oil Companies (IOCs).

The Chairman of the Committee, Sen. Asuquo Ekpenyong, who spoke at an interactive session with the management of the NDDC in Abuja, said the committee would summon IOCs that had refused to make remittances to the commission.

He said: “It seems as though the NDDC has a revenue issue, revenue issue because the IOCs and the Federal Government are not remitting what they ought to.

“When you have a situation where you have a debt profile of over a trillion naira, you are no longer talking about sustainable development.

“When you have a debt profile that is very high, contractors with a capacity to deliver will run away from your contracts. We have to reverse the trend.

“It is a contravention for any IOC or any Federal Government parastatal agency to refuse to adhere to the law establishing the commission.”

He stressed that the Act of Parliament establishing the NDDC stipulated the contribution of the federal government and the IOCs for the development of the Niger Delta.

Ekpeyong added: “We will nip the backward and negative trend that had been the story of the Commission over the last couple of years.

“This is for conceiving, planning and implementation of projects and programmes for the sustainable development of the Niger Delta region.

“The Commission has performed creditably in certain areas, but has failed to perform in others.

“Worthy of note is its performance over the course of the 9th Assembly. I feel there was a breakdown in the relationship between the Commission and the 9th Assembly.

“It is imperative at the beginning of this 10th Assembly that we start off on a good footing.”

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now