A few days after the Senate’s confirmation of the nomination of Ms Lauretta Ifeanyi-Onochie as Chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NNDC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chieftain, has advanced why she is eminently qualified for the position.
Onuesoke, who spoke against the backdrop of the swelling opposition against Ifeanyi-Onochie’s nomination, those opposed to her appointment, said Onochie, being an indigene of an oil-producing state makes her extremely qualified to be Chairman of the Board.
While congratulating Onochie on her deserved appointment, Onuesoke averred that the appointment of NDDC chairman isn’t exclusive to a direct indigene of an oil-producing area.
“Taken together, the appointment of the Chairman under the Act is not tied to an indigene of an OIL Producing Area/Community, it is rather tied to states, and the President has the prerogative of choosing whom he wants from Delta State and Lauretta Onochie is his choice and in this case, a square peg in a square hole.
“You cannot import into the Act what it is not, therefore, Section 2 (1b) is inapplicable to the appointment of the Chairman,” he posited.
Onuesoke recounted that he watched absent-mindedly the Arise TV interview where the position of the Act on the President’s nomination. Lauretta Onochie was described as unlawful, stressing that such a position is a misunderstanding of the Act regarding the said nomination.
“First, Section 2(1a) has the Chairman of the board standing on its own, while Section 2 (1b) stands alone, since both are not used conjunctively, they must be read as such.
“Second, Section 2(3) defines who is a member as stated in Section 2b (i-f), once again the Chairman is not defined along with the members.
“Third, Section 4 mentioned the office of the Chairman on the basis of States and not on the basis of an INDIGENE of Oil Producing area or community.
“Fourthly, Section 2, subsection 2 states that: “the president shall appoint chairman and other members” again, the Chairman is separated from members as defined in 2 (1b)(i -f),” he stated.
He urged Deltans to be grateful that the appointment was given to their own person and not someone from another oil-producing state like Bayelsa, Rivers and Ondo states, among others.
