Groups in the Niger Delta states have rejected the inclusion of other states from outside the region in the list of oil producing states covered by the Niger Delta Development Commission.
The group under the umbrella of Conference of Presidents-General of Niger Delta Ethnic Nationalities stated their position during a protest in Yanagoa, Bayelsa State.
It was reacting to a proposal before the National Assembly to include Lagos, Anambra and Bauchi states into the Niger Delta Development Commission.
Members of the group are of the view that the affected states are outside the geopolitical setting of the Niger Delta, and should not be added to the NDDC.
Professor Benjamin Okaba of the Ijaw National Congress, who doubles as president of the Conference, argued that the NDDC was created for the development of the people of the Niger Delta.