A serious battle is said to be underway between the Delta State House of Assembly members, and members of the board of Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC). It is all over who gets the contracts in the commission’s 2013 budget.
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A board member who spoke under the condition of anonymity told a SaharaReporters correspondent in confidence that the Assembly members, as always, have again allegedly hijacked all the better parts of almost all the commission’s projects captioned in the 2013 budget. This action, the member said, has made it impossible for the 2013 budget to be operated smoothly, following what labeled, ‘a cold war’ that continues to go on between the Assembly members, and the commission.
According to the visibly angered board member, the chairman, house committee on DESOPADEC in the state Assembly, Mr. Alphonsus Ojo, the House Committee lead on Finance and Appropriation, Mr. Daniel Omayuku, are the men spearheading the fight over the contracts for the house.
“It’s very, very, unfortunate the kind of situation we found ourselves in the Delta state. In every year these fights is what we face in the commission, but who dares (even) cough, or even challenge the house members? Year in, Year out, the House members hijack the commission’s projects, and anyone who dares challenge them will be framed-up, and slammed with suspension.
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“Do you know that the house members, through the previous chairman, house committee on the DESOPADEC, and now the current chairman, Mr. Alphonsus Ojo, and his counter-part on Finance and Appropriation, Mr. Daniel Omayuku, are given bribes before the commission’s budgets are passed? And yet, at the end of the day, they still hijack all the juicy contracts in the commission so, these are the things we face in silence,” the source told SaharaReporters.
“(The) Delta State House of Assembly had barely approved the sum of N37, 500,000,000 billion for the 2013 budget year for the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC,) when the battle started,” the aggrieved board member added.
It was learned that for their selfish interest, the house have to ‘jack up’ from the initial budge of N37 billion for the commission, to N37, 500, 000, 000 billion, this, the chairman, house committee on finance and appropriations, Mr. Mayuku explained, that the additional N500, 000,000 million in the budget of N37 billion, was based on an increase in the internally generated revenue projections of the commission.
A staff of the commission, lamented the manner and way in which the Oritsua Kpogho-led commission had embezzled funds, saying that the funds provided were to pay the media had been owed by the commission. These funds have, since 2009, been diverted into private pockets, adding that the commission has been allegedly invited by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), for more than three times this year over a series of fraud related cases.
It would be recalled that the Delta State contractors handling projects of the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC,) had back in January 2013, petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), accusing members of the House of Assembly of hijacking contracts already awarded to them.
The petition is known as, the “Petition On Behalf Of Concerned Contractors Of Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC) In Respect Of The Grave Injustice, And/Or Oppression, As A Result Of Hijacking Of Contracts By Some Members Of The Delta State House Of Assembly.”
The petition, emanating from the chambers of Ikimi Oghenejabor & CO., described the activities of some members of the Assembly whom it says are ‘bent on manipulating and/or ensuring the re-award of contracts’ already awarded by DESOPADEC last year, and for which tenders have since been closed.
The Board of the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC) was formally set up in July, 2007, by the administration of Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan. The board was formed to execute ‘a clear and critical mandate,’ to better the lots of the peoples and communities of the oil producing areas of the Delta State.
The commission is charged with the responsibility of receiving and administering, exclusively, the 50 per cent of the 13 per cent Oil Derivation Fund accruing to the Delta State Government, from the federal allocation, for the rehabilitation and development of oil producing areas in the state. This includes other development projects as may be determined from time to time by the commission, but Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan has continued to starve the commission of 50 percent of the 13 percent, critics say.
Meanwhile, the state house of Assembly has suspended the member representing Ukwuani /Ndokwa, who is on the board of DESOPADEC, Mr. Kennedy Okolugbo, over alleged certificate forgery.
Documents obtained by SaharaReporters shows that embattled Okolugbo, who claimed to have graduated from Ambrose Alli University, going back to the 1996/1997 academic session, has no certificate to back up his claims.
It was also revealed that Mr. Okolugbo had before his screening as DESOPADEC board commissioner by the Assembly, submitted a letter of accreditation from Ambrose Alli University. This document dated back to 2003, and to this date he has not been able to provide his university certificate as been demanded by the House.
Mr. Okolugbo could not tell the house committee on DESOPADEC, a body chaired by Mr. Alphonsus Ojo why he has not submitted to the House his claimed certificate, and where he did his national youth service.
According to a member of the committee, following the inability of Okolugbo to bring to the house his certificate, as well as diverting funds meant for development of his area among other corrupt practices, the house had no option than to slam a suspension order on Okolugbo.
Some credentials being paraded by Okolugbo shows that two statements of results, from the University Demonstration School, Abraka, Ohonre Grammar School, Benin-City and St. Georges Grammar School, Obinomba are bearing different conflicting names.
However, the chairman, house committee on DESOPADEC, Mr. Alphonsus Ojo, confirmed the suspension of the board member, but refused to provide more information on the issue, insisting that he doesn’t like talking on the telephone on issues like this.
An assembly source told our correspondent in confidence that as at the time of this report, Mr. Okolugbo has been going round the lawmakers and offering bribes to lift his suspension, and to sweep under the carpet the issue surrounding his certificate.
When contacted by SaharaReporters, Mr. Okolugbo after contradicting himself several times, could not tell us where he did his National Youth Service, and also failed to give convincing answers to several questions put before him. However, he boasted that the Assembly has no right to suspend individuals, and insisted that he was not suspended because he is still carrying out his duties as the board commissioner.
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