By Ken Afor
Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark, leader of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), and a Second Republic Senator, has advocated a legal action against politicians implicated in corrupt practices, particularly the immediate past Governor of Delta State, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa.
Clark, 97 and an elder statesman who made the call on Thursday during an interview on Arise television stated that Okowa should face prosecution over alleged misconduct and misappropriation of Delta state resources during his tenure as governor of Delta State.
According to the veteran Ijaw leader, Okowa’s case is “a naked one”, he “stole the money and he must pay for it.” The elder statesman further clarified that investigation into Okowa’s conduct was not solely prompted by recent events but rather part of a broader effort to address accumulated allegations against former governors in the country.
He said: “What they said was that they wanted to probe, gather all cases of old governors and deal with them at the same time. It’s not because Okowa has gone to soften their hearts or has gone to do something. His case is a naked one. He stole our money, embezzled our money and he must pay for it”
It would be recalled that Clark, a former Federal Commissioner of Information during the regime of General Yakubu Gowon had accused Okowa of misappropriating over N1 trillion of the 13 per cent oil derivation fund for the state.
The 13 per cent oil derivation fund is from the federation account and is allocated to oil-producing communities via state governments, as outlined in Section 162(2) of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution, as amended.
Chief Clark had in a television interview in June 2023 alleged that Okowa misappropriated the funds during his time as governor of Delta State.
It would be recalled that in November 2022, Mr. Garba Shehu who was the spokesperson to the immediate past President, Muhammadu Buhari, made public details of funds released to nine oil-producing states in the country, with Delta State said to have received the highest allocation totalling N296.63 billion.
Clark, a former Commissioner for education in the defunct Mid-Western region stated that the revelations spurred him to address Okowa directly, sending a letter to him asking him account for the funds.
“He (Okowa) said he had been spending the money. The answer they gave me was that they spent N5 billion on paying pensioners. How does that come under 13 per cent?.
“And they also spent the money building a university in Okowa’s village,” Clark said.
In light of the disclosure, the elder statesman remarked that he hired the services of a lawyer, who procured a certified copy of all the derivation funds disbursed to the state from 2007 to December 2022 from the accountant general’s office.
He highlighted that according to the law governing the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC), 50 per cent of the 13 per cent oil derivation funds should be allocated to DESOPADEC. However, the governor retained the entire amount, contrary to this provision.
DESOPADEC serves as an interventionist agency tasked with overseeing the management of a 13 per cent oil derivation fund, aimed at facilitating infrastructural development within the oil-producing communities of the state.
“Instead of paying 50 per cent (of the N1.760 trillion) to the DESOPADEC as provided by the law, which is automatic, he (Okowa) now held the 13 per cent fund- the entire money, dishing out instalmentally and approving every contract the DESOPADEC had awarded,” he said.
