ONDO State governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, has backed the rejection of Charles Ogunmola as the state’s representative on the Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
Ogunmola, from Owo, a non-oil producing area of Ondo State, was nominated by President Muhammadu Buhari, along with 15 other persons, as the Executive Director of Projects in the NDDC board in November this year.
But, his nomination was rejected in a protest letter forwarded to the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, by three senators from the state, namely Robert Ajayi Boroffice (Ondo North), Pius Akinyelure (Ondo Central) and Nicholas Tofowomo (Ondo South).
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The lawmakers said Ogunmola’s nomination ran contrary to the provisions of Section 12(1) of the NDDC Act, 2000.
According to them, the NDDC Act clearly stated that the nominee for the position of Executive Director, Project of NDDC “shall be an indigene of an oil-producing area”.
The senators stressed that Ogunmola is not an indigene of an oil producing area of Ondo State.
In a statement released by the Ondo State Commissioner of information and Orientation, Bamidele Ademola-Olateju, on Thursday, December 15, Akeredolu supported the lawmakers’ position.
The statement said that the three senators had demonstrated unalloyed team spirit in their joint insistence that the contents of the Act establishing the NDDC be strictly adhered to.
The governor said that the lawmakers have taken a courageous step and have refused to accept arbitrariness when it is evident that it is the path of least resistance.
According to him, the lawmakers “have done the right thing by their fearless, selfless and rightful rejection of any infraction on legal authorities with regards to the nomination of anyone outside what the NDDC Act stipulates”.
“Their resolve can only strengthen our oneness and peculiar status as the only oil-producing State in the South-West, for now. This is one shrewd bipartisan political collaboration worthy of huge commendations,” the statement said.
“If feelers at our disposal are anything to rely upon, it is heart-warming to note that, on the strength of the resistance and joint rejection by our Senators, the Senate Committee on Niger Delta has rejected the nomination of Mr Charles Ogunmola as nominee for the position of Executive Director, Projects of the NDDC.”
Akeredolu also noted that by the provisions of the NDDC Act, and with specific reference to the position of the Managing Director, it is the turn of Ondo State to produce the next Chief Executive of the Commission, adding that his administration has done what is required by Law over time to pursue that cause.
The governor said that the state shall continue to reactivate all efforts and work with the lawmakers to ensure that the state is not short-changed on the NDDC Board.
“We count on them to zealously guide and guard their conscionably displayed passion for the people of the oil-producing areas of Ondo State. We are in congruence with them, as they monitor events between now and the next plenary session, where their report is most likely to be submitted and debated.
“However, the next collective battle is for all hands to be on deck to achieve what is most desirable in the immediate.
“Put simply, we must all work together to ensure that Ondo State is not short-changed under the flimsy guise of our ‘rejection of an earlier opportunity’.
“The next EDP of the NDDC is still for the mandate areas of Ondo State to produce. We shall give whatever it takes to achieve this. For this reason, we will ensure a more robust, holistic stakeholder engagement in a matter of days.”
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