By Yemi Yusuf
Representatives of oil and gas producing communities in Delta State, on Thursday, stormed the Abuja headquarters of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to demand the arrest and prosecution of ex-governorIfeanyi Okowa for allegedly misappropriating over N1tn of the state’s share of the oil derivation fund during his administration.
They accused him of diverting the 50 per cent legally prescribed allocation to Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission from the 13 per cent oil derivation fund for the rehabilitation and development of oil-producing areas in the state.
However, the immediate-past Commissioner for Information in Delta State, Ehiedu Aniagwu, has dismissed the accusations as baseless. He said those who wrote the petition were sponsored by politicians who lost the last governorship election in the state.
According to him, “Those people protesting were sent by people who are still pained that the Peoples Democratic Party won the election in Delta. That is what is paining them. They should know that it is not only Okowa that voted for Sherrif Oborevwori; 21 out of 25 local government areas endorsed him as their governor. So, they should wait for 2027 if they have any better candidate.”
Mr. Aniagwu described the efforts of the petitioners as a wild goose chase, saying “even the EFCC will know that there is no N1trn anywhere. All the money we got from Federation Account Allocation Committee, including derivation for the whole period we were in office amounted to N2.1trn. How can one trillion Naira be 13 per cent? Do the Mathematics. The money that came from Paris Club, Federation Account that they shared to every state, all the interventions amount to N2.1trn. And then out of the money we have, we spent over N1.1trn paying salaries, that is for recurrent expenditure. With that, how can someone divert one trillion?”
The communities were however determined to press home their case as they stormed the office of the EFCC in Abuja to present their petition under the auspice of the Association of Oil and Gas Producing Communities of Delta State.
A copy of their petition to EFCC obtained by journalists was signed by representatives of Ijaw Ethnic Nationality, Chief Mulade Sheriff; Itsekiri Ethnic Nationality, Matthew Itsekure; Ndokwa Ethnic Nationality, Patience Ego Afujue; Urhobo Ethnic Nationality, Mark Ikpuri; and Isoko Ethnic Nationality, Chief John Etenero.
A portion of it read: “It is very disheartening and callous to note that despite the copious and unambiguous provisions of Section 162 (2) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Section 13 (1) of the DESOPADEC Law of 2006 (as amended), 2007, 2015 and 2018 respectively, Okowa has deliberately and flagrantly abused, violated and breached the above provisions of the law and had continued to misappropriate the said funds for his personal use at the expense of the suffering people of the Oil and Gas Producing Communities in Delta State.
“It is very nauseating that despite the stupendous billions of naira being paid to the Delta State Government from the 13 per cent oil derivation fund from the Federation Account, the Oil Producing Areas/Communities continue to wallow in abject poverty with no commensurate social amenities and infrastructures in place.”
After submitting the petition at the EFCC headquarters, the representative of the Ijaw ethnic community Mr. Sheriff alleged that the former governor illegally and unlawfully diverted the sum of N1,077,450,285,552.17.
He appealed to the anti-graft agency to conduct a comprehensive probe of Okowa’s administration, particularly the accrual of the 13 per cent oil derivation funds disbursed to Delta State between 2015 and 2023 when Okowa was governor.
