The Nigerian Senate has on Thursday passed a bill to establish the South South Development Commission, SSDC, and subsequently handed it over to its Special Duties’ Committee, which report back within a week.

The bill, sponsored by Senator Asuquo Ekpenyong (APC, Cross River South) and 17 other senators from the region, including the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, was well received by the lawmakers.

Senators were further swayed on equity by the senator representing Bayelsa West, Senator Seriake Dickson, who was able to convince his colleagues of the clear difference between the NNDC, a resource derivation-based agency, and the proposed SSDC, which is focused on the developmental needs of the geopolitical zone like the other five regions.

According to Senator Ekpenyong, “The bill was meant to receive and manage funds from the Federation Account Allocation and other sources, donations, aids, grants for integration, development, resolution of infrastructural deficits, militancy, and communal crises, as well as tackle ecological and environmental problems, and for related matters.”.

“Apart from its mission of developing oil-bearing communities and addressing environmental challenges, the NDDC undertakes “multi-regional” functions and extends to states outside the Niger Delta region like Abia, Ondo, and Imo because they produce oil,”  adding that the proposed “SSDC would provide even development for all the states in the zone, irrespective of whether they produce oil.”

Asuquo argued further, “The commission will resolve ecological problems and other development challenges in all the South South states other than what happens in the Niger Delta areas.

“It would be unfair to create development commissions for the other zones of the country and exclude the South on the excuse of having NDDC when some of the states in the other zones are also benefiting from the allocations of the NDDC. Yet similar bills concerning five other geopolitical zones have been signed into law,” Ekpenyong further added.

Ekpenyong said, “Some may ask, isn’t the Niger Delta Development Commission already fulfilling these functions? Distinguished colleagues, let me explain why the proposed South-South Development Commission is both distinct and necessary. The NDDC is a multi-regional body that includes states like Abia and Imo from the Southeast and Ondo from the Southwest.

“However, both of these regions now have their own dedicated development commissions, the Southeast Development Commission and the Southwest Development Commission. This setup has diluted the focus and resources of the NDDC, making it less effective in addressing the unique challenges of the South-South.”

“Another key difference lies in how funds are allocated. The NDDC allocates resources based on oil production, which has led to unequal development, with higher oil-producing states receiving a disproportionate share of resources.

“The South-South Development Commission will ensure equality in resource distribution among member states, focusing on regional development rather than just oil revenue. Funding will come from various streams, including federal allocations, international grants, and developmental partnerships.”

In his compelling arguments that persuaded senators across party lines and geopolitical zones to support the initiative, Senator Dickson said, “The NDDC is a resource-based commission that addresses environmental degradation caused by oil exploration across the oil-producing states, covering the South-South, Southeast, and Southwest. Unlike the NDDC, which serves a broader mandate, the South-South Development Commission will specifically target the developmental, economic, and ecological challenges facing the South-South region.”

“The South South Development Commission is distinctly different from the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, which some Senators compared to it in terms of developmental responsibilities. And if approved, would develop the region.

“It is interesting to note that not all states in the South are benefiting from the NDDC, yet Ondo in the South West and Imo and Abia in the South East are beneficiaries of the NDDC despite not being South South states.

“States in the North Central have the North Central Development Commission, despite having HYPADEC, because they have water bodies generating electricity.

“The South South Development Commission, SSDC, is to be created based on geopolitical zones, and I plead that senators should support this bill, as it is often said, what is good for the goose is good for the gander.

“For instance, Cross River did not get anything after the court judgment some time ago, but if there is a geopolitically based commission,. The state virtually gets nothing from NDDC, but with the South South commission, it will now benefit; this is also applicable to many other communities in the South South.

“The point is that we have to draw a demarcation between a resource-based commission, which is what the NDDC is, and a geopolitical zone commission like the proposed South South Development Commission,” Dickson said.

In his contribution, Senator Suleiman Abdulrahman-Kawu (NNPP, Kano South), one of the senators who earlier opposed the bill, made a U-turn on Thursday, admitting that he didn’t initially establish the difference between the NDDC and the proposed SSDC.

Deputy President of the Senate, Sen. Barau Jibrin (APC, Kano North), who also supported the bill, canvassed a name-change for the NDDC to capture every community that produces oil in the country.

He argued that with the coming of the SSDC, the NDDC should undergo a name-change from being an agency for Niger Delta affairs to either an oil-bearing or a resources-bearing development commission.

Jibrin explained that in this way, states that produce oil but are outside the Niger Delta, will automatically become members of the NDDC.

He cited Gombe, Bauchi, Kogi, Lagos, Ogun and others as states that have oil deposits and should be part of the NDDC in the future after the Act would have been amended, saying, “That means we have to look at the NDDC’s Act and change the name to oil bearing or producing areas development commission. When we have a community or state that has oil any time in the future, they are automatic members”.

Senator Suleman Kawu (Kano South) and Enyinnaya Abaribe (Abia South), leveraging on Seriake Dickson’s explanation on the differences between NDDC and South South Development Commission, supported the bill.

In his remarks, the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio thanked the sponsor of the bill for this foresight and commended senators from other geopolitical zones for their understanding.