From Kenneth Udeh, Abuja
The bill to amend the Act of the Niger-Delta Development Commission to enable the inclusion of Anambra among the list of oil-producing states scaled first reading at the Senate.
The proposed enactment sponsored by Anambra North Senator Tony Nwoye is aimed at amending Section 2(1)(b) of the NDDC Establishment ACT CAP N 86 LFN 2004 which would enable the commission to enlist the South-Eastern State among its list of oil-producing states.
Two years ago the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) granted its approval for Anambra to join the list of oil-producing states.
According to RMAFC it attributed 11 oil wells to the state and declared that henceforth Anambra will be eligible to benefit from the 13 per cent derivation fund, which minerals-producing states in Nigeria are statutorily entitled to.
However, despite this the NDDC are yet to accord the state such status.
At the last plenary of the Senate Presided by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Nwoye’s Bill was introduced by the Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele and passed first reading after its short title was read by the Senate clerk Senate clerk, Barrister Chinedu Akubueze.
An insight into the bill reveals that 2 Section 2(1)(b) of the Principal Act is amended by; (a) inserting the following as new subparagraph (iii) which reads: Amendment of section2 “(iii) Anambra State” and (b) renumbering the existing subparagraph (iii) – (ix) as Amendment of Section 2 subparagraph (iv) – (x).
Subsequently Amendment of Section 4 is repealed by (a) inserting the following as new paragraph ( c ): “(c) Anambra State”; and (b) renumbering the existing paragraphs (c) -(i) as paragraph (d)-(j).
Followed by the amendment of section 30 of the Commission’s Principal Act by word” Anambra” immediately after the word “Akwa-Ibom”.
Currently the 2000 Act establishing the NDDC recognises nine states as oil-producing they are;Ondo, Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Imo, Abia, Cross River and Akwa Ibom.
Recently it was reported that the Nation’s mainstay has been found in other parts of the country including Anambra which is said to be already producing 0.9% as well as Bauchi, Gombe, Nasarawa, Kogi, and Lagos States.