PORT HARCOURT/Nigeria: In a bid to clarify widespread misconceptions surrounding the appointment process of the Chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), constitutional lawyer Dr. Akpo Mudiaga Odje has shed light on the legal framework guiding the selection.
According to Dr. Odje, the appointment of the NDDC Chairman is made alphabetically from member states by the President and is not contingent upon the quantum of oil production from any particular community within those states.
Dr. Odje, an authority on Niger Delta affairs and facilitator of the Niger Delta Democratic Union (NDDU), referenced the NDDC Act of 2000, a law he and other Niger Delta leaders—including Gen. David Ejoor, Chief E.K. Clark, and Prof. Itse Sagay—fought to establish.
The Act stipulates that the Chairmanship position rotates alphabetically among the nine-member states, and it is within the President’s prerogative to appoint any qualified indigene from an oil-producing community within the relevant state.
“There is no provision in the Act that mandates the appointment to come from the community with the highest oil production within a state,” Dr. Odje emphasised. He added that the Act would have clearly stated so if this were the case. He supported this interpretation with the Latin legal principle Exclusio Unius, Ex Inclusio Alterius, meaning the express mention of one thing excludes others that are not mentioned.
Reflecting on the establishment of the NDDC, Dr. Odje recalled the tireless efforts of key figures such as the late Dr. Chuba Okadigbo and Alhaji Ghali Na’aba, who successfully led the charge to override then-President Olusegun Obasanjo’s veto of the Act.
Obasanjo had resisted committing the Federal Government to pay 15% of the total budget of the oil-producing states to the Commission, insisting on only 10%, while the oil companies sought to pay 2% instead of the proposed 3%.
“The passage of the Act was a major victory for the Niger Delta, and it laid the groundwork for federal and oil company contributions to the development of the region,” Dr. Odje stated. However, he expressed disappointment that, since its passage in July 2000, the Federal Government has only been contributing 10% rather than the mandated 15%, and oil companies have similarly fallen short by contributing 2% instead of 3%. He hinted at a possible legal challenge to recover the billions of dollars in arrears from these shortfalls.
In further elucidation of the legal standing, Dr. Odje stressed that only a member state—not an individual or community—has the legal right (locus standi) to challenge the appointment of an NDDC Chairman. This position is fortified by the Supreme Court’s ruling in Uwodumni V The Registered Trustees of Celestial Church of Christ, which outlined that only an aggrieved party with a direct interest, in this case, a state, can file a lawsuit in matters of such appointments.
Dr. Odje also drew parallels with the 13% derivation funds allocated to oil-producing states under Section 162(2) of the Nigerian Constitution. In a landmark decision by the Supreme Court, it was ruled that these funds could only be paid to states, not individual communities, further strengthening the argument that statehood, not community-based production, remains the primary consideration for NDDC leadership appointments.
“Our struggle for resource control and the development of the Niger Delta is well-documented,” Dr. Odje noted. He recalled his role in a 2003 legal challenge against former President Obasanjo for failing to appoint a Minister of Petroleum Resources, a lawsuit that eventually led to the appointment of Prof. Edmund Dakuro as Minister of State for Petroleum Resources in 2005.
Dr. Odje was also instrumental in the legal defence that secured Delta State’s rights to resource control in the case AG Fed V AG Abia, where the Supreme Court upheld the state’s counterclaims for resource control.
Dr. Odje concluded by reiterating the significance of the NDDC Chairmanship being a state-centric appointment, underscoring that only a member state has the right to challenge any appointment it deems irregular. “The law is clear, and the NDDC Chairmanship remains a prerogative tied to the state, not the individual communities,” he said.
With this legal framework in mind, Dr. Odje encouraged stakeholders to focus on the continued development of the Niger Delta, aligning with the original goals of the NDDC to uplift the region and ensure equitable resource distribution.
