The House of Representatives on Thursday stepped down a motion challenging President Bola Tinubu’s scrapping of the Ministry of Niger Delta in place of the Ministry of Regional Development.
The sponsor of the motion, Rep. Oboku Oforji of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP Bayelsa, explained that the motion had been overtaken by events, hence, it was no longer necessary to go ahead asking President Tinubu to change his decision on the Ministry.
He said the creation of the Regional Development Ministry was proper and in line with the developmental yearnings of the present administration.
Oforji further explained that the creation of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs by the late President Musa Yar’adua on 10th September 2008 was a child of necessity at the time which has outlived its essence.
“The Ministry was created to promote and coordinate policies for the development, peace, unity and security of the Niger Delta Region and is expected to formulate and execute plans, programmes and other initiatives as well as coordinate the activities of agencies, communities, donors and other relevant stakeholders involved in the development of the Niger Delta Region.”
Additionally, “Yar’adua intended to promote peace among the agitators in the region.”
According to him, the creation of the Ministry of Regional Development would move things ahead from this point, urging the lawmakers to step down the motion.
In his contribution, the House Leader, Julius Ihonvbere, APC, Edo, expressed the belief that the newly created Ministry of Regional Development will further develop the Niger Delta region better than it used to be.
He said: “These were a prelude to the creation of the ministry which was aimed at infrastructural development, environmental protection and empowerment of the youths in the oil-rich Niger Delta Region.
“Are we there yet? The answer is no, but the people of the Niger Delta believe that the lofty dreams and aspirations of the founding fathers of the region will be actualized someday, hence their embrace of the creation of the Ministry of Niger Delta Development”.
As other legislators made their contributions in favour of stepping down the motion, the Speaker of the House, Tajudeen Abbas disclosed that he met with President Tinubu last week on the matter and was assured that he would be happy to receive the South-South Development Commission Bill to cater for specific issues of the Niger Delta region.
He therefore told the lawmaker that in light of the information and because the issues within the Motion have already been overtaken by other events, the mover of the motion should allow the House to step down the motion.
The motion was accordingly stepped down.
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