* Task FG on oil spill

By  Jimitota Onoyume

P-Harcourt – THE personality conflict that has engulfed the new board of the Niger Delta Development Commission, (NDDC) appears to have been resolved following a meeting of governors of the member states in Port Harcourt on Friday with the board  and other top management staff of the Commission.

At the end of the meeting which lasted several hours governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi told media men that members of the board had agreed to sink their differences and work to move the region forward. He said the governors acted in line with a law and  a presidential directive I.

According to Amaechi Article II of the NDDC Act empowers the Advisory Council, made up of the governors of the NDDC States, to intervene when the need arises.

“In compliance with that law and the Presidential directive to look at what the issues and differences in NDDC are, we were able to meet with them, and we are to communicate the office of Mr President on the outcome of the meeting”.

“We believe that the issues have been properly addressed and we think that from today henceforth, there would be improvement”. Adding the governor said the President would be briefed on the outcome of the meeting before details would be made public

Meanwhile, the governors have tasked the federal government to prevail on oil companies operating in the Niger Delta region to protect the environment from further degradation. In a communiqué issued at the end of their protracted meeting in Government House, Port Harcourt on Friday night, the governors blamed the despoliation of the environment on spillage arising from operations of the oil firms.

The governors said the federal government should come up with stronger regulations to protect the region from the degradation arising from spillages and called for the passage of the petroleum industry bill, noting that it would help address challenges of poverty and underdevelopment of oil bearing communities.