The Commissioner representing Cross River State on the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Orok Duke, has decried the continuous neglect of the State which he says has been shortchanged in the last 23 years
He also charged the Commission to fully implement the Act establishing it, which is anchored on equity among the 9 Oil Producing States.
Speaking during an interface with the management and staff of the NDDC in Calabar, the state capital, Orok Duke condemned the commission’s exclusion of Cross River State in allocation of project to be executed.
The Cross River State NNDC Commissioner also lamented that Cross River had been undervalued adding that the oil production quota was only considered as a criteria in the appointment of the Commission’s Chief Executive
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Orok Duke who was first appointed by former President Muhammadu Buhari as the member representing Cross River State in the NDDC in 2022, and later reappointed by President Bola Tinubu in 2023, said out of the over 900 billion naira that the Commission would have access to under the 2024 budget, only 15 billion naira was allocated to Cross River State.
He noted that the NNDC was an interventionist agency, calling on the Commission to stop the marginalisation of Cross River State.
He also stated that he had the support of the state Governor, Bassey Otu, to ensure that the state got what it deserved.
(Editor; Anoyoyo Ogiagboviogie)
