DESOPADEC funds: Okowa react to Clark’s allegations

IMMEDIATE past governor of Delta State, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, has said the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, (DESOPADEC) got a whopping N208 billion in the eight years of his administration. His media aide, Charles Aniagwu on “Morning Show” on Arise Television, said that the Okowa administration was fair in the distribution of projects across the three Senatorial Districts in the state.

He said prior to the emergence of Okowa administration in 2015, Delta was 4th in oil production adding that Okowa administration took the state to number one in oil production because the communities were happy with the projects executed in their areas by the state government.

“Let me put it on record that we recognise the contributions of the elder statesman to the development of our democracy in time past. The issues he has canvassed are not original to him and because they are not original to him, in a number of areas he progressed in error. Premium Trust Bank does not in any way belong to Okowa. In Delta State during the administration of Governor Okowa, the state operated three distinct accounts.

“The FAAC Account which takes remittances from the Federation Account and other remittances is domiciled in Zenith Bank and its still there. The second account is called the State and Local Government Joint Account which is the JAAC account and that account is with UBA and you know the owners of UBA. The third account is the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) Account which is with Sterling Bank,” he said.

On the issue of 13 percent derivation, Aniagwu said the elder statesman was not correct when he claimed that former Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike exposed the refunds to the oil producing states.

“The Federal Government agreed they were owing oil producing states but they were not in a position to refund the entire money at once and that they will pay instalmentally for a period of five years. When we went to the State Assembly and we publicised it in line with our transparency principle. There was no time anybody reported in this country that Buhari doled out N200 billion to one state without publicising it.

“In the case of Rivers, as soon as it was agreed that these funds need to be refunded, Rivers state without following laid down principles approached a commercial bank and discounted that the expected refund to the tune of 30 percent to the bank and the bank was able to give them the money. When we approached the House of Assembly with the list of projects we intended to fund with the discount facility it was well publicized,” he recalled.