By Anayo Okoli

UMUAHIA—ABIA State Government has lamented that it has not benefitted much from Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, and urged the commission to do more for the State. The government has therefore called for a synergy with Niger Delta Ministry to assist in the infrastructural development of the state.

Abia State Commissioner for Works, Mr. Eziuche Ubani who said this on the sideline of the ongoing 3rd National Council on Niger Delta being hosted by the state, regretted that Abia was not included in the amnesty programme of the Federal Government for oil bearing states.

Ubani said the state would table the issue before the council for stakeholders in the Niger Delta to look into.

Ubani who is the chairman, Local Organising Committee for the council meeting, also lamented the poor quality of some of the projects done by the commission and said there ought to be Needs Assessment by the Ministry and NDDC to ensure that any project done in the State was in line with the needs of the people.

“We are oil producing, we produce gas also, so environmental pollution affect us. We also need infrastructure which is driven by NDDC and Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs”, Ubani explained.

According to him, Abia is in dire need of infrastructural development, insisting that tackling the gully erosion sites in the state is beyond the  resources of the state.