Seyi Odewale and Nathaniel Zacchaeus
First Republic Minister of Information, Chief Edwin Clark, yesterday slammed the situation in Delta State, describing the Governor Ifeanyi Okowa-led administration as the worst in the history of the state.

Clark, who is the convener of Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), also described Okowa as a ‘betrayal of the southern people’, saying God will not answer Okowa’s prayers to be vice president. Okowa is the vice-presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The PANDEF leader stated this in an open letter he addressed to Okowa which he read to journalists in Abuja yesterday.

The nonagenarian Ijaw leader, who called on the Delta governor to immediately resign as running mate to former Vice President and presidential candidate of the PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar in the next month’s presidential poll, said that the Atiku/Okowa joint ticket will not win the forthcoming general elections in the country.

He said, “Today, I say with certainty that you are more dictatorial than any other military administrator that has administered Delta State since its creation in 1991.

“I can, therefore, understand why you have deliberately and immorally betrayed your colleagues of Southern Nigeria and the people for your selfish ambition by wanting to land on safer ground by accepting to serve as running mate to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

“No, by God’s grace, your prayer will not be answered. Perhaps, you have forgotten the gravity of the offence you have committed against the people of southern Nigeria.”

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*Account for N250bn derivation funds you collected or face litigation

The First Republic Minister of Information also asked the Okowa to give an account of the N250bn his government collected as the 13 per cent oil derivation in the last seven and half years.

He specifically vowed to drag the Governor to Court as soon as his tenure ends on May 29 this year, if he refused to give details account of how he spent the money to the people of the state

He noted that the revelation by the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, that Delta State had received over N250bn as the 13 per cent derivation in the last seven and half years, came to him as a shock.

He maintained that the projects so far executed in the state by the Governor had not allegedly justified the amount of money that had accrued to the state from the derivation funds.

Clark alleged that the Governor was allegedly executing projects in his village at the detriment of the oil-producing communities which were being denied necessary development.

He further alleged that the Governor was spending the state funds with impunity because residents were scared of him.

He also accused the Governor of running the state with his cronies and relatives

Clark said, “Take note, there are many issues of corruption and abuse of office perpetrated by you and your Government.

“This is ranging from one of your siblings partaking in the building of the Prof. Chike Edozien New Civil Service Secretariat Complex, Asaba.”

Clark equally accused the Governor of patronising a newly established bank because he allegedly had an interest in the financial institution.

He said, “The Premium Trust Bank, which is now your government bank to the extent that the new loan you wanted to take from a consortium of banks, will be paid through Premium Trust Bank, the development which did not go down well with the banks and its allies.

“They therefore withdrew and pulled out from the deal. The Delta State government now approached the Delta State House of Assembly again for a fresh loan approval of N120bn, and this time around, Premium Trust Bank will be the lead lender. What is unclear is that; is the N120bn loan in addition to the previous N250bn approved by the House or a fresh one.

“Meanwhile, I have decided to concentrate on the misuse of about N250bn 13 per cent derivation fund which you collected from the Federal Government and corruptly misused by your Administration for which the fund was made available.

“At this juncture, I wish to reproduce for the public knowledge, what the constitution says about the use of the 13 per cent derivation fund in section 162 (2) of the Nigeria constitution, and no one has power, capacity or authority to tamper with the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria except through amendment of the constitution by the National Assembly.

“The Constitution states that, ‘The President, upon the receipt of advice from the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, shall table before the National Assembly proposals for revenue allocation from the Federation Account.

“In determining the formula, the National Assembly shall take into account, the allocation principles especially those of population, equality of States, internal revenue generation, land mass, terrain as well as population density;

“Provided that the principle of derivation shall be constantly reflected in any approved formula as being not less than thirteen per cent of the revenue accruing to the Federation Account directly from any natural resources.

“The Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC) was established in 2006 under James Ibori’s administration to manage 50 per cent of the 13 per cent derivation fund accruable to the State and its laws came into force on 1st day of August 2006.”

The elder statesman reproduced a report released by the National Bureau of Statistics on how oil-producing states in Nigeria received N448bn in 2021 as 13 per cent oil derivatives.

He said Delta State received the highest amount with N141.93bn.