Seriake Dickson, the senator representing Bayelsa West at the Senate, has insisted on the passage of South South Development Commission Bill for equity and fair play,
The former Bayelsa State governor noted that against the widely held position that the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) was for the South South, he clarified that NDDC is for all oil-bearing communities which included states like Ondo in the South West, as well as Abia and Imo in the South East, insisting that since the regional development commissions had been created through passage of their bills, the South South Development Commission should be created to cater for the region.
In a tweet on his X handle, Dickson said; “A few days ago, on the floor of the Senate, I lent my voice to the bill for the establishment of the South-South Development Commission which ran into difficulties at its last hearing and was stepped down at a time when I was engaged in oversight duties.
“As I mentioned in my supporting motion, the establishment of geopolitical zonal development commissions is the current mood of the country and has been done for the North-West, North-East, North-Central, South-West and the South-East.
“As I explained, the concern expressed by senators which resulted in the difficulty the bill faced at the onset was due to the erroneous perception that the South-South already had the NDDC to address their development concerns and therefore didn’t need another commission.
“That was why I took the time to give the explanation after which members withdrew their objections and endorsed the establishment of the South-South Development Commission (SSDC) for which I am truly grateful to all senators.
“As I explained, the NDDC was not created for the South- South geo-political zone alone because it has Ondo; a south western state, with Abia and Imo; both Southeastern states and the president has already signed into law and the bills passed for development commissions in the South-East and South-West which already includes these states.
“The NDDC is the successor organisation of the OMPADEC which takes care of oil producing states and therefore, the notion of Niger Delta in this context is wider than the South-South geopolitical zone.
