Cross River accuses FG, NDDC of neglect

Cross River state government has accused the Federal Government of neglecting it since it lost Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon.

According to Governor Ben Ayade, the state has not benefited from any infrastructure by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

He urged the Federal Government to direct the NDDC to provide amenities to alleviate the suffering of the people.

The governor’s Special Adviser on NDDC, Mr. Victor Effiom Ekpo, disclosed this in a statement.

He also enjoined the Federal Government to ensure that the state produces the next Managing Director of the NDDC, for loosing the Bakassi Peninsular to Cameroon.

According to him, the ceding of Bakassi to Cameroon was an ultimate sacrifice.

He explained that some human lives, the state’s wells in the Peninsular, ancestral land, water for fishing, and 13 per cent derivation were lost completely in the process.

Lamenting the pathetic plight of the state, he said: “The state deserves to be compensated heavily, because it had sacrificed heavily for Nigeria.”
He added: “It is time for Cross River and others to get their turn for equity sake, when the tenure of the present NDDC board expires.

“Since the Federal Government handed over Bakassi to Cameroon, no compensation has been given to the state. Also, there was no resettlement of the displaced people whose cases were worse than those of Borno State. We believe that one day, we would get back Bakassi.”

According to the government, the NDDC Act allows the major oil producing states like Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa and Delta to occupy the positions of Managing Director, Executive Director, Administration and Finance, and Executive Director, Projects, which they have all had.

Ekpo, who is the Chairman of Forum of Special Advisers on NDDC, also charged “the Federal Government to revisit the boundary lines between Akwa Ibom and Cross River states.

This, he said, would enable the state to get back its 76 oil wells, which Akwa Ibom, a sister state, would be willing to hand over, if the boundary is corrected.”