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Okoko Backs Rejection Of N'Delta Budget
Ijaw National Congress (INC)
on Thursday rejected the budgetary allocations
to the Niger Delta Ministry and the
cash-strapped Niger Delta Development Commission
(NDDC), queuing behind the South South
Parliamentary Caucus' rejection of the 2009
budget.
INC President and prominent Niger Delta opinion
leader, Professor Kimse Okoko, told Saturday
Independent the allocation "is ridiculously too
meagre" to be acceptable to the region and that
they had supported the creation of the ministry
with a proviso that it be funded adequately.
"The allocation to the ministry and the NDDC is
unacceptable to us," Okoko said.
"Our position at the INC and Conference of Niger
Delta Ethnic Nationalities has been that a Niger
Delta ministry is necessary only if backed with
sufficient funds to make it work. But this
allocation has confirmed our fear, and the
meagre allocation to this ministry is definitely
unacceptable."
On Monday, the South South Parliamentary Caucus
in the House of Representatives picked holes in
the 2009 Appropriation Bill in respect of
provisions made for the NDDC and the Ministry of
Niger Delta. The caucus said the N27 billion
proposed for the NDDC was not only grossly
inadequate but "difficult in logic, law and
common sense to justify and could not have been
based on any intelligible calculation."
The caucus had expressed reservations on what it
called the culture of arbitrary allocations to
the NDDC without recourse to the Act
establishing it, and recalled that that the
negative trend had continued to draw back the
smooth operations of the agency and made it
impossible to stimulate meaningful
development-the raison d'etre for its creation.
The caucus demanded an extra-budgetary provision
of N500 billion, made up of N300 billion to
offset the arrears of statutory allocations owed
the NDDC over the last eight years and N200
billion for the newly created Ministry of Niger
Delta.
At a news conference organised by the caucus,
House of Representatives Majority Leader, Tunde
Akogun, argued that whereas the funding of the
NDDC had been clearly provided for in the
enabling law, the Federal Government had
consistently flouted the law in terms of
budgetary allocations each fiscal year.
Section 14 (2) (a) of the NDDC Act stipulates
that: "There shall be paid and credited to the
fund established under the Act 15 per cent of
the total monthly statutory allocations due to
member states of the commission from the
Federation Account, this being the contribution
of the Federal Government to the Commission."
Other members of the caucus at the news
conference included the House Committee Chairman
on Rules and Business, Ita Enang; Committee
Chairman on Niger Delta, Nicholas Mutu; and
Committee Chairman on Air Force, John Halims
Agoda.
Police Nabs Child Trafficker With 245 Kids At
Kontagora
The Police in Niger State on
Friday intercepted about 250 kids loaded in a
trailer along Kontagora road, a boarder town of
Niger and Kebbi States said to have been taken
from their parents at Sokoto and Zamfara states.
The trailer with registration number Kano : XB
241 FGE, said to be Minna, Niger State-bound was
intercepted when the police discovered the
content to be, jam-packed kids, all boys and
ages between six to 10 was nabbed by the Niger
State police in the early hours of the day, at
about 3 a.m. on Friday.
The state police commissioner, Paul Iseghohi,
who confirmed the interception of the trailer
conveying the kids to Niger State, said the kids
were in the custody of one Mallam Awaisu
Abubakar at the time it was intercepted.
Mallam Awaisu he said had been arrested while
investigation into the matter is ongoing at the
police headquarters.
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