Orok Duke Resumes Office As NDDC Commissioner, Laments Unfair Treatment To The State
By Missang AKPET
Following his appointment, the commissioner representing Cross River at the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Rt. Hon. Orok Duke, has assumed office at the Murtala Mohamed Highway state office of the NDDC.
The commissioner while addressing staff at the commission office vowed to fight for fair and equal treatment for the state, lamenting that Cross River State has continuously been shortchanged in the agency's interventionis for years.
He disclosed that the NDDC Act is anchored on equality among the 9 Niger Delta states adding that there is no reason why Cross River should not enjoy equal benefits.
“They're is no sharing formula, no mention of production quota in the whole of NDDC Act. The same way it is captured in the Northeast Development Commission. When it comes to derivation, Cross River gets zero. Then they put money in the basket to go and develope the 9 states of the Niger Delta, and you still come to give Cross River zero?"
“Every month, 15 percent of our budget as well as 50 percent ecological fund is deducted and sent to NDDC. We have a situation where if these monies were deducted and paid to Cross River we will have more than N15billion per year. But routing it through NDDC we have less, and people think it’s normal and it has been going on for 23 years" Duke said.
“We have projects that are screaming for attention worth well over N15billion. What do we do? You now pile pressure on the state. The state already have scarce resources with competing demands. NDDC is an interventionist agency. Let them do their work They should stop cheating Cross River State. The same south south people are subjugating the other state. It is not acceptable. Out of N900billion they restrict us to N15billion, and out of the N15billion they say we cannot spend more than N7billion, what will 7 billion do for Cross River State? Cross River is the only APC state in the south south and as such deserves the best from NDDC" Duke lamented.
In the same vein, the NDDC Commissioner frowned at the lukewarm attitude of the state NDDC office towards project monitoring, which he said has left individuals and political actors claiming ownership of the agency’s projects, using same to score political points.
He, however charged the projects department erect signposts at all NDDC project sites across the state, stating that the Commission must take the credits for its projects, both completed and ongoing.
