Says power situation getting worse Group tasks Jonathan on new boardSENATE President David Mark yesterday described the situation in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), which led to thesack of its boardrecently as an embarrassment that should compel the people of the region to take a second look at the running of thecommission.Mark spoke as a group, South East/South-South Professionals (SESSP) admonished President Goodluck Jonathan to seek accomplished professionals and limit the influence of politics in his choice of new board for the NDDC.At a press conference yesterday in Lagos, President of SESSP, Mr. Emeka Ugwu-Oji, said 'the NDDC will continue to suffer from frequent change of leadership if political considerations are not shunned in picking the Chief Executive Officer.'We have agonised over the establishment of the defunct Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC) and now NDDC. Recent events speak volumes of how the nation abandoned federalism with its attendant retrogression. It is trite to say that if NDDC were to be established within a truly federal structure, it would not have been a creation of the Federal Government but that of the oil producing states.'We request the President to jumpstart his transformation agenda by ensuring that when he appoints another Board for the NDDC the nation would see a new system of appointment totally devoid of politics.'Expressing his disappointment while inaugurating standing committees of the Senate yesterday, Mark also expressed displeasure over the state of affairs in the Ajaokuta Steel Complex in Kogi State, attributing the crisis in NDDC, which culminated in the dissolution of theboardto lack of supervision. He said: 'The in-fighting in the administration of NDDC is a shame. They should be ashamed of themselves. The administration of the area is headed by the people ofthe area and if they cannot deliver, it is a shame and their people should hold them responsible.'The amnesty programme is an indication of the Federal Government's determination to ensure lasting peace, and it has succeeded. We should commend Niger Delta youths for accepting the amnesty programme. This committee should give impetus to the happenings in the area. The NDDC was not properly supervised during the last assembly and I think that was what gave them the opportunity to do what they did.'The Senate president also advised agitators for resource control to do so within the ambitof the law just as he charged oil companies to operate according to global best practices.'The issue of resource control should be done democratically and constitutionally. Also, oil companies operating in the area are taking things for granted. They should be made to operate according to global standard to avoid oil spillage and other activities that affect the environment.'Chairman of the committee, James Manager, pledged to lead the panel to accomplish all the set targets.Speakingat the inauguration of the Senate Committee on Power, Mark said the success of the Vision 20:20:20 when Nigeria hoped to be among the best 50 advanced economies would dependon electricity. He however expressed regret that no serious improvement had taken place in the power sector.
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