The Niger Delta Development Commission is established by an act of parliament after President Olusegun Obasanjo refuses to sign the act into law. It is established as a development agency to facilitate and execute development projects in the nine oil-bearing states in the South-South region of Nigeria. It is to receive funding from the government and a levy from the oil multinationals operating in the region. Since its inception, the agency has been bogged down by political bickering and has been starved of funds by the federal government and oil companies in the region.