Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State and his Edo State counterpart, Adams Oshiomhole at the weekend shunned the statu­tory meeting of the Advisory Council of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) held in Asaba, Delta State.
Also absent was the Chair­man of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum and Akwa-Ibom State Gover­nor, Godswill Akpabio, who did not send representative just as Amaechi and Oshiomhole were not represented.
The NDDC Advisory Coun­cil is made up of the governors of the Niger Delta region in­cluding Delta, Rivers, Cross River, Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Edo, Abia, Imo and Ondo states; the chairman of the board of the commission and its managing director who is also the secretary to the council.
Following the rally of the PDP, which held in Benin City, Edo State, speculations were rife that the agenda of the NDDC Advisory Council meet­ing was specifically to discuss President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election in 2015.
But briefing newsmen yes­terday, Ondo State Governor, Olusegun Mimiko, said the council brainstormed on how to urgently address the funding challenges facing the commis­sion.
Mimiko stated that the coun­cil also decried the attitude of oil majors in the region for default­ing in making contributions to the NDDC for the commission to carry out projects that would grow the economy of the region after oil.
“We are exploring ways to see how NDDC can leverage on some of their outstanding funds among which is from oil majors that are supposed to make con­tributions. Some of them have defaulted in making such con­tributions,” he told journalists.
According to him, the coun­cil also encouraged the manage­ment of NDDC to place empha­sis on major legacy projects that would grow the economy of the region and essentially, increase the level of economic activities that would create jobs.
Chairman of the NDDC, Mr. Dan Bassey Abia, said the meeting provided an opportu­nity to resolve the problems fac­ing the commission stressing: “We have started a new NDDC, things are getting better.”
Also present at the meeting were Theodore Orji (Abia), Seriake Dickson (Bayelsa), Li­yel Imoke (Cross River), Em­manuel Uduaghan (Delta), and the Secretary to the Imo State Government, who represented Governor Rochas Okorocha as well as members of the board and management of the com­mision.

Oshiomhole, Amaechi, Akpabio absent at NDDC governors’ meeting