1. Home
  2. West Africa
  3. Nigeria

President sends bill on Niger Delta to assembly

PRESIDENT Olusegun Obasanjo has presented a draft bill in the National Assembly seeking the establishment of a Niger Delta Commission, `The Guardian' newspaper in Lagos reported on Friday. The daily quotes Obasanjo's Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Doyin Okupe, as saying that the bill, presented on Wednesday, was in line with a pledge by the president to start acting to redress the developmental problem of the Niger Delta area. Okupe said that in letters to the President of the Senate and the speaker of the House of Representatives, Obasanjo had reiterated his belief that the major cause of the agitation in the Niger Delta area was its neglect in the past and its lack of development. He urged parliament to approve the bill soon since the setting up of a commission on the Delta, included in its provisions, would help correct the neglect suffered by the region.

This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

Share this article

Our ability to deliver compelling, field-based reporting on humanitarian crises rests on a few key principles: deep expertise, an unwavering commitment to amplifying affected voices, and a belief in the power of independent journalism to drive real change.

We need your help to sustain and expand our work. Your donation will support our unique approach to journalism, helping fund everything from field-based investigations to the innovative storytelling that ensures marginalised voices are heard.

Please consider joining our membership programme. Together, we can continue to make a meaningful impact on how the world responds to crises.

Become a member of The New Humanitarian

Support our journalism and become more involved in our community. Help us deliver informative, accessible, independent journalism that you can trust and provides accountability to the millions of people affected by crises worldwide.

Join