SAHARANEWS – Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, is asking why states in the Niger Delta have not been allowed to have control of their oil and gas resources just as Zamfara State has been left alone to enjoy its gold deposit.
Okowa, who spoke at his quarterly media interaction in Asaba, the state capital, said that South-South governors believed in restructuring and resource control.
He added that governors of the oil-rich region, ministers, lawmakers and other stakeholders would meet this Friday in Port-Harcourt, Rivers State to deliberate and take a position on the matter and other issues.
He said, “South-South governors before now have been talking about the need for restructuring and demand for resource control. We are on that because we feel there is the need to restructure not only the country but the management of resources.
“But as of today, there are acts in the National Assembly that guide the issue of oil production and with the solid mineral. Those are not covered in these acts, and obviously, this is already a sore point in our nation’s governance system, and we hope to express this very strongly during the meeting taking place in Port Harcourt on Friday.
“We cannot apply laws in such a manner that it becomes discriminatory because you cannot mine solid minerals somewhere in Zamfara and you can’t allow Niger Delta to manage their oil.
“I believe that at some point in time, these discriminatory tendencies will have to be revisited in our nation at some point in time.”