PANDEF urges Tinubu to sign South-South Development Commission Bill

• Warns against treating NDDC as regional body
• Demands that next NNPCL GMD be picked from region

The Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) has called on President Bola Tinubu to sign the South-South Development Commission (SSDC) Bill into law.
  

The group has also accused the Federal Government of committing what it described as “environmental genocide” against the people of the Niger Delta, citing years of neglect, exploitation, and deliberate exclusion from key decision-making bodies in the oil sector.
 
PANDEF also accused the Federal Government of deliberately excluding Niger Delta representatives from key oil sector parastatals, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL)
  
Speaking at a press briefing, in Abuja, yesterday, Ominimini condemned the Federal Government’s failure to address the environmental and health crises caused by decades of oil exploration and gas flaring in the region. 
  
He emphasised that while the Niger Delta produces the oil and gas that sustain Nigeria’s economy, its people continue to suffer from poverty, disease, and environmental degradation.
   

The forum also called on President Bola Tinubu to appoint the next Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL from the Niger Delta as a matter of justice, equity, and fair play.

PANDEF further criticised the Federal Government’s decision to establish five mini Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) plants in Kogi State, using gas piped from the Niger Delta, while ignoring the region that produces the raw material.
  
“This is a clear act of economic sabotage against our people. It’s cheaper and more logical to establish LNG plants in Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, and Akwa Ibom states, but the federal government has chosen to ignore us. This is wickedness,” Ominimini argued.