Urhobo who was fielding questions from newsmen, said the appeal became necessary following the experience of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC.

He lamented that budgets of the NDDC have suffered substantial arrears in the hands of the Federal Government for years.

He said “the amount of money the Federal Government owes its contractors is almost equivalent to the government annual budget for the year 2007/2008. The Federal Government budget for 2008 has been slashed due to the falling oil prices.”

He said a supplementary budget should be presented to the National Assembly for a very quick passage; and the Petroleum Trust Fund should be utilized to meet any deficiency.

He called for the immediate enactment of laws to coordinate the activities of the governments, the NDDC, the state development commissions and local government activities in order to avoid duplication of efforts.

“That is the only way that Niger Deltans and the whole world can be convinced that the Federal Government is serious about achieving the development of the Niger Delta area.

And, therefore, there will be no longer excuse for militancy in the region,” he said, adding, “and those who are encouraging bunkering and other illegal activities in and outside Nigeria would be discouraged.”

While advising the federal government against the use of the ministry as a diversionary measure of solving the problems of the region, Urhobo noted that if all the issues raised were not looked into, by the time the ministry is created, a lot of time would have been wasted.

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