By Naomi Sharang

Chairman-nominee for the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Lauretta-Onochie, has said that if confirmed, she would ensure the empowerment of the people of the Niger Delta.

She stated this at the screening of the 15 nominees for the board of the NDDC by the Senate Committee on Niger Delta Affairs, held at the National Assembly Complex, Abuja on Thursday.

Onochie in her presentation said that she would ensure that all the areas under Niger Delta got a fair deal.

She said: “Since the announcement of my nomination, I have received thousands of applications from our young people wanting to be personal assistants because that is all they know.

“We are going to show them that there is more to life than being a personal assistant.

“We are going to show them how to be properly empowered so that our region can start booming like all the other regions.

“I have seen the men that I have been nominated along with, we have been in contact with each other. We are going to work as a team because I am a team player.

“I hail from a community that produces all kinds of agricultural products that have not been properly harnessed.

“These are some of the things we will work on to be able to bring food to the table of our people and to empower our people,” Onochie said.

Reacting to the position made by the nominee, Sen. Opeyemi Bamidele recalled that the appointment of the nominee had been turned down by the Senate.

He said: “On the nominee for the chairmanship position, when we had a reason to turn down the presidential nomination of this same nominee in the Senate, it was because the position for which she was nominated was for an electoral umpire.

“And there were members of the public who were concerned that because she is a card-carrying member of a political party and a presidential aide, an active one, she was not the best person.

“And in the Senate Committee on Electoral Matters, we took into cognisance the concern of the public.

“Today in the Senate, we are faced with a different scenario. She has been nominated as a representative from an oil-producing state and for the purpose of holding a political appointment for which she is eligibly qualified.

“That is our position and I wanted the public to be clear on this.”

Sen. James Manager (PDP-Delta), said: “this is one nominee we rejected on the floor of the Senate. We rarely reject nominees from the President but this was done.

“Now this person is here again before the senate.

“I want the public to know that this one is an isolated case.”

Similarly, Sen. Stella Oduah (PDP-Anambra), expressed pleasure over the reappointment of Onochie.

“Nigerian women are particularly happy that the President did what he did by appointing a female; very capable woman to help this wonderful and relevant agency of Niger Delta.

“Whether we like it or not, where a woman comes in, her innate skills, her multitasking ability; I believe that for the first time Niger Delta will have the required development that they so much are in need of.”

However, some of the members said that Onochie was not an indigene of an oil-producing part of Delta which she hails from.

Sen. Seriake Dickson (PDP-Bayelsa), said that NDDC wasn’t just any other federal agency where appointments were just made.

“It is not anywhere you make nominations or appointments from anywhere based on competence or people you may know.

“The NDDC Act recognises development concerns and issues of inclusion by the oil-producing communities which has been a causative factor of the unrest in that area.

“That is why the law was crafted that way, and it is important that the president or those advising him who are in charge of the nomination must comply with the NDDC Act with respect to the involvement of the people from the oil-producing areas.

“In fact, what the act stated is indigenes of oil-producing areas or communities.”

For Senate Chief Whip, Sen. Uzor Kalu, “We need to be more guided.

“We had in the past, appointed a chairman from our state that is not from the local government where they produce oil, Chief Onyema Ugochukwu. And nobody can tell us to reject this one (Onochie).

Earlier, Chairman of the Committee, Sen. Bulus Amos, said that for over 10 years, the NDDC has not gotten a substantive board.

He urged the nominees, if confirmed, to ensure that the purpose for which the NDDC is established is achieved. (NAN)