The group led by its National convener, Iteveh Nur’ Ekpokpobe at a media briefing on Wednesday in Abuja said the composition of the committees in the Senate falls short of the expectation of the people of Delta State.
A group under the aegis of the Niger Delta Development Association (NDDA) has accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of sectionalism over the non-appointment of Delta State Senators as chairmen of committees in the 10th National Assembly.
The group led by its National convener, Iteveh Nur’ Ekpokpobe at a media briefing on Wednesday in Abuja said the composition of the committees in the Senate falls short of the expectation of the people of Delta State.
He said as one of the major oil-rich states in the country, Delta deserves more than what was allocated to it.
“We frown on the constitution of the committees in the Senate, while some states have more than one, Delta has none," he said.
"This is a calculated affront to the people of the state when juxtaposed with our contribution to the development of Nigeria with resources from Delta State."
Ekpokpobe lamented that the state had yet to come to terms with the decision of the leadership of the Senate to exclude the state’s Senators from chairing committees.
He said, “Out of 74 committees in the Senate, states in the south-south region like Cross River got three, Rivers State has two, Akwa Ibom State has two, Edo and Bayelsa states have one each while Delta State has none at all.”
The group accused the Senate President of favouring some states in the region and neglecting others.
"Despite the fact that Delta has some of the most credible senators, we find it difficult to believe that this could happen as an omission,” he said.
The group said upon Senate's return from its recess, it expects the anomalies to be corrected in order not to create the impression that some states in the federation do not matter.
The convener asked the senate president to correct the “mistake".
“Ordinarily, if two committees are allocated to the 36 states each, there would still be two more to go. This means invariably that there is really no reason why a state cannot get at least one committee.
“We also wish to state here, categorically, that a state like Delta is too important in the scheme of things in Nigeria to be relegated so much.
“We look forward to a kind and swift response of the senate leadership, in order to avert unnecessary agitators that may degenerate to a breakdown of law and order in the region,” Iteveh added.