Falana says N17bn allocated to stop oil theft diverted
Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, has alleged that about N17bn allocated to stop oil theft has been diverted
Falana, while delivering his goodwill message in Lagos State Thursday, also stated that the Ministry of Niger Delta ought to be under the NDDC, and not the other way around.
He spoke an event organised by SERAP during the Report Presentation and Interactive Session, titled, “Promoting Transparency and Accountability in the Use of Public Funds in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria,”
Falana emphasised that, “There are two intervention agencies in Nigeria that are similar in terms of their responsibilities to the oppressed people of our country: the Niger Delta Development Commission and the North East Development Commission.
Whereas the NEDC has a board in place, since 2015, the Buhari regime has hidden under one excuse or another to treat the NDDC as an extension of the Ministry of the Niger Delta. There is no provision of the law that puts the NDDC under the Ministry of Niger Delta.
“The NDDC is older than the Ministry of Niger Delta. So, if one should be under, it should be the other way around. But what has happened since 2015? You are either told that we are investigating fraud in the NDDC, or ‘Oh, we have set up an audit committee to investigate allegations of fraud.
“That committee submitted its report, but no white paper has been issued until now. We are only told, Oh, thousands of jobs have been abandoned in the Niger Delta.
“By the time the report came out, many of the contractors thought they were going to be arrested. So, some of them moved to abandoned sites so as not to be prosecuted by the EFCC. But when they discovered that the government was not serious about it, everybody went back to their former positions, since they knew nothing would happen.
“Let us, therefore, challenge the office of the attorney general to impress on the president that it is discriminatory, unfair, and unjust not to reconstitute the Niger Delta Development Commission.” Punch
According to the human rights lawyer, the National Assembly, state governments in the Niger Delta and the Niger Delta Ministry all have questions about funds allocated to the region.
Falana said, “All the contracts awarded either by the sole administrator or interim management are illegal because sole administratorship is unknown to the NDDC Act. We are, therefore, calling on the government without any further delay to inaugurate the board of the NDDC.
“Secondly, the government must release the report of the forensic auditor so that projects that are abandoned can be taken up by the communities affected in the Niger Delta. Roads have been abandoned, schools have been abandoned, and electricity projects have been abandoned. We want to know who has taken money—billions of Naira—and abandoned these projects.
“For the national assembly, you carried out a probe recently where somebody was collapsing. How will you not collapse if you cannot account for billions of Naira?
“So, please, we must have the report of the House. It must be published so that we can follow up and track those who have looted the wealth of the Niger Delta. We are not just talking about the NDDC alone, we must find out what the Ministry of Niger Delta is doing. We must find out what the state governments in the Niger Delta are doing with the 13 per cent derivation. These funds are meant to alleviate the poor living conditions of the people of the Niger Delta.
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