Adegboruwa SAN Calls For Amendment Of NDDC Act To Address Abandoned Projects And State Representation

Legal luminary and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr Ebun Adegboruwa SAN, has called for a proper amendment of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Act.

He made the call while featuring as the keynote speaker during a recently held retreat organised for the Directorate of Legal Services of the NDDC in Lagos.

Adegboruwa, while speaking on the topic ‘Repositioning Legal Services for Optimal Impact in the Public Sector’, said: “There is a need for the amendment of the NDDC Act, especially in the aspect of abandoned projects. That’s what I meant by ensuring proper amendment of the NDDC Act.

“There should be an amendment to the NDDC Act since there are now claims of other states producing oil, for instance, Anambra, Kogi, Lagos, and others.

“Such amendment should be able to verify such status and decide whether to include or exclude them in the management board, and I also anticipated that the amendment would take care of appointments to the board because the current law agrees on rotation among the oil-producing states.”

“There are states that are producing oil that have never emerged as the managing director of the NDDC. I mean, those matters should be specified and not left to the issue of doubt.”

Also, the Director of Legal Service of the NDDC, Dr Stephen Ighomuaye, highlighted the importance of training and re-training of members of the legal unit of the commission, stating that it cannot be overemphasised, as the Directorate of Legal Services of an organisation as big and pivotal as the NDDC being an interventionist agency is propelled for the rapid development of the Niger Delta region.

According to him, “the current management of the NDDC acknowledges the need for training and re-training and has approved for the staff of the directorate to be sequestered to come together and reposition themselves in accordance with the theme of today’s retreat, which is ‘Repositioning Legal Services for Optimal Performance in Its Functions’.

“From the delivery of the keynote address, Mr Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa (SAN) was very clear on the importance of training and re-training and making adequate budgetary provisions for taking on the job of legal service because when you get things right from the legal perspective, almost everything else falls into place. We believe that the problems of the Niger Delta region would be properly taken care of if legal services were efficiently positioned.”