By Onome Oghenetega
Elder statesman and former Federal Commissioner of Information, Chief Edwin Clark, has challenged the Delta State governor and Vice Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator (Dr.) Ifeanyi Okowa, to account for the N250billion 13 per cent Derivation Funds recently paid to the state by the Federal Government.
Clark, who says Okowa’s government was corrupt and lacked transparency and accountability in its dealings, demanded for a full detailed explanation on how the funds were expended by the state government.
The Ijaw leader spoke on Thursday at a press conference held in Abuja, the nation’s capital, also gave Governor Okowa between now and May 29th 2023 to explain to Deltans how the 13% derivation was used by the state government.
While stating that there were many issues of corruption and abuse of office perpetrated by Okowa and his government; he said he would continue to demand accountability from PDP Vice Presidential candidates until he leaves office as governor of the oil-rich Delta.
He faulted the claims of the state government through the commissioner for finance that the 13 per cent derivation funds were used for the establishment of three new universities, construction of Leisure and Film Village Asaba and payment of pensioners.
Clark, who is the convener of the influential Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), noted that 50 per cent of the 13 per cent Derivation Fund was strictly for the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC) for the development of oil-bearing communities.
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The former information minister, while accusing Okowa of barkanising the law establishing DESOPADEC to accommodate his Ika speaking tribe, demanded that the share of DESOPADEC from 13 % Derivation Funds must be remitted to the commission.
Clark also accused Okowa of betraying the accord reached by governors of southern Nigeria at a meeting in Asaba by accepting to be vice presidential running mate to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar in the 2023 general election.
Chief Clark called on Okowa to resign as Atiku’s vice, saying that Atiku/Okowa’s joint ticket will not win the forthcoming presidential election.
Clark. in the text of a press statement titled “An Open Letter To Governor Ifeanyi Okowa On The State Of Affairs In Delta State”, maintained that it was the turn of the south to produce the next president of Nigeria.
The Ijaw leader said, “Your Excellency, my letter will definitely come to you as a surprise because of my unusual silence over your nearly eight years of governance in Delta State. But my unusual silence does not mean I have kept a blind eye over some corruption and misuse of power by you.
“This is particularly, having regards to my activities during your predecessor’s reign where I openly criticized them, and I was tagged a trouble maker by my detractors; hence I did not act for sometime during your administration.
“It is my intention therefore to release some of these ugly information to Delta State people by your lack of sincerity, lack of honesty, and lack of transparent administration. This is especially as the Delta people are scared of you and unable to speak out against your government.
“Most of them have been reduced to mere robots either because of self-interest or personal patronage or the allowances they receive from the Government. I am indeed very sad that some of our leaders from the State who betrayed us in Abuja during Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s Presidential Primaries in 2010/2011 have relocated to Delta State to perpetuate their evil design again. Let them be warned, otherwise, they will be exposed.
“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 own selfish ambition by wanting to land on a safer ground by accepting to serve as running mate to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
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“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.
“In order to cover your nefarious plot, you voluntarily induced everyone to host a meeting of the 17 Southern Governors in Government House Asaba on Tuesday 11th May 2021. You gave them a very good reception and provided them a secretariat that drafted the communiqué under your supervision, which was ably read by the Chairman of the Southern Governors Forum, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State. It was indeed a bombshell, as you collectively demanded for the Southern Presidency and insisted that none of you should accept to be a Vice President.
“Shortly afterwards, the Southern and Middle-Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF), which I lead, gave the governor’s declaration 100% support and declared that no Southern serving Governors, Legislators or Politicians should accept to be running mate, particularly to Atiku Abubakar.
“The 17 Governors later met again in Lagos and Enugu to affirm the decision taken in your Government House Asaba. Little did we know that you were using this to perfect your secret plan to be running mate to Atiku Abubakar from the very beginning.
“We are therefore not surprised that you directed all the delegates from Delta State not to vote for Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State or Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State who are your neighbours but instead, they voted massively for Atiku Abubakar during the PDP Presidential Primaries last year.”
