Amidst criticism and protests, the Senate, on Tuesday, 20th December 2022, confirmed the nomination of Lauretta Onochie, a Special Assistant on Social Media to President Muhammadu Buhari, and 12 others as Chairman and board members of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
Both the Senate and House of Representatives Committees on Niger Delta had screened Onochie on Thursday alongside 13 others for the NDDC board roles.
Earlier, Buhari had written to the Senate requesting the Upper Chamber to confirm the appointment of the Chairman and Members of the commission’s board in accordance with the provisions of section 2(2)(a) of the NDDC (Establishment) Act.
This is the second list of nominations sent by the president as the first list of nominees for the board was sent in in 2021 and the Senate screened and confirmed the nominees.
However, Senate President Ahmad Lawan stated that the President’s decision to send another list of nominees for confirmation was because there was a flaw in the previous compilation.
Onochie’s nomination faced some resistance from some committee members due to the fact that she is not from an oil-producing community in Delta State where she hails from, which is against the NDDC Act.