Edwin Clark, an elder statesman and the founder of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), criticized Niger Delta governors on Wednesday for robbing the people of their money and claimed they were wealthier than the governments.
Additionally, the former federal commissioner of information accused the outgoing governor of Delta State, Ifeanyi Okowa, especially of stealing more than N1 trillion from the state’s 13 percent oil derivation budget.
He also thinks that if the governors had used the 13% budget well, there wouldn’t have been the need for the level of poverty and unrest in the Niger Delta region.
Nyesom Wike, the immediate past governor of Rivers State, announced in November 2022 that the federal government had paid the nation’s oil-producing states a backlog of oil derivation funds.
The cash released to the nine oil-producing states were revealed shortly after Wike’s announcement by Garba Shehu, a presidential spokeswoman in the most recent government. Delta state received the largest allocation, totaling N296.63 billion.
As per section 162 (2) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution (as amended), the 13% derivation fund is transferred from the federation account to oil-producing communities through state governments.
The claims were made by the Niger Delta chieftain while speaking on “The Morning Show,” an Arise TV breakfast program.
The Beginning
Recalling the genesis of the 13% derivation fund, Clark said: “The 13 percent derivation was something that was raised at the Constituent Assembly, chaired by the former Justice of the Supreme Court.
People like Late General Shehu Yar’Adua and others felt that there was a need to compensate the people that produce the oil and we were around lobbying and the 13 percent was granted under section 16(22) of the constitution which provided for at least 13 percent of the federation account to be given to the oil producing communities for their development.
“If that money was properly spent our boys won’t be agitating. There will be no more militancy in the creeks. We have been facing the federal government and not the governors who have been stealing the money. At the 2014 National Confab, we asked for an increase to 25 percent, and to 50 percent after five years. They told us that they would give us 18 percent but that we should go home and see what our governors were doing with the 13 percent.
“That is why we decided to ask the governors what they are doing with the money. I remember that in 2015, New Niger Avengers gave a warning to the federal government that they would attack oil pipelines if the derivation money is not used in developing their area. I intervened and appealed to them that I would talk to the governors.
“Recently the former Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike revealed in one of his press conferences that a certain amount of money was paid to them by President Buhari under the 13 percent derivation and that Delta State got over N250 billion.
“That annoyed Okowa and he criticized Wike for interfering in their matter. So, I wrote a letter to Okowa to account for the money that he has been collecting. He answered and said that they spent N5 billion in paying pensioners in Delta State. How does that come under 13 percent? Are they oil-producing pensioners? He is spending the money on building a university in his own village.
“I engaged a lawyer who went to obtain a certified true copy of all the amounts that they paid since 2007. I got a letter from the Accountant General’s office. He stated that every oil-producing state was paid. The one paid to Delta State amounted to N1 trillion, while about N766 billion was received under Okowa.
“We cannot be criticizing the federal government every time for taking our money when those at home who receive the money refuse to account for the receipts. Their monthly allocations are higher than every other state, in addition to the 13 percent derivation.”
On DESOPADEC
The PANDEF leader further said that according to the statute creating the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC), the funds the previous governor allegedly owned should be distributed to the DESOPADEC at a ratio of 50% of the 13%.
A 13 percent oil derivation fund is managed by DESOPADEC, an interventionist organization created to promote the development of the state’s oil-producing regions’ infrastructure.
“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.
His letter to Okowa, EFCC
The head of the South-South claimed to have sent Okowa a second letter and included the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in the copy.
According to him, the letter made the governor, who is accused of using Premium Bank, a privately owned commercial bank, to deposit all of the derivation cash.
“I also mentioned in the letter that he (Okowa) has 13 companies. I told him he put the 13 per cent (derivation funds) into these 13 companies and let him deny it.
“So, Okowa has embezzled our money. It’s not even accounted for in his annual budget,” Clark stated, noting that embezzlement of public funds had made some governors wealthier than their states.
When told that Okowa had denied ownership of the Premium Bank, Clark said the former governor lied, insisting he knew the bank’s history.
On Atiku-Okowa ticket
The elder statesman claimed that Okowa had betrayed Southern Nigerians and Middle Belt residents by choosing Atiku Abubakar, the former vice president vying for president of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as his running mate in the 2023 elections.
He claimed that Okowa also accused him of running the campaign with state money despite Southern and Middle Belt leaders’ agreement that the North should not be the country’s next leader in 2023.
“But he (Okowa) violated it. He was very happy going about (as Atiku’s running mate),” he said.
Okowa replies Clark
When reached on Wednesday, Charles Aniagwu, the former information commissioner for the Okowa administration, claimed that Clark was mistaken and that the accusations were unfounded.
He said: “There is no iota of truth in what the elder statesman said. As one who belongs to a different political persuasion, one should expect nothing less. We can understand where he is coming from.”
“Everything he (Clark) mentioned in that interview is not the true position of things. When you have 13 per cent derivation coming into an oil-producing state that is part of the revenue they use in running the state.
“It is not 13 per cent for oil-producing communities. These are facts and we need to get it right here. It is for the state, otherwise, we would have elevated it to the level of oil-producing families,” Aniagwu said