Minister speaks on rumoured scrapping of NDDC

Fears that the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has been scrapped have been allayed by Regional Development Minister Abubakar Momoh.

Following President Bola Tinubu establishing a new Ministry of Regional Development on Wednesday, there were rumours that the well-liked NDDC was no longer in operation.

AFRIPOST reports that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and President Tinubu declared the scraping of the Ministry of Sports Development and the Niger Delta Ministry.

Previously in charge of the Ministry of Niger Delta, Momoh will now oversee the Ministry of Regional Development, which will include the North East Development Commission (NEDC) and the South East Development Commission (SEDC).

Speaking to the media, Momoh stressed that the NDDC is still in use and has not been abandoned.

“It becomes necessary to give further clarification… so that people over there will not misconstrue what has been done. First, by the name and nomenclature, Niger Delta is just within the nine states of the region.

“Today, you’re all aware that regional development commissions like the North East, South East, and some others that are coming up are already in place. So, there must be a ministry to supervise all these agencies.

“So the President decided that all these agencies be brought under the erstwhile Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, which has been redesignated as the Ministry of Regional Development.

“For our people over there in the Niger Delta region, I want them to know that this has not removed anything from them.

“The NDDC is still very much in place, now under the Ministry of Regional Development, along with other regional agencies. It’s simply a change in nomenclature.

“That is what has been done. I wouldn’t want anybody in that region to begin to feel that it has been scrapped and is no longer in existence; all the structures and everything about the Niger Delta remain. It’s just a change of nomenclature and expansion of activities of the ministry.”