Account For Your Last Tenure, NUJ Tells DESOPADEC Board

The Ughelli Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) has called on the Board of the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC), whose tenure was recently extended to give full account of its past three years tenure.
The chapel made this known in a press release issued after its last monthly meeting held on Thursday.in Ughelli. The release was signed by the Chairman, Comrade Matthias Ogbagah, and Secretary, Comrade Henry Ubus.
The chapel stated that there was a need for the oil producing communities to know how the board spent the 13 percent derivation oil fund that accrued to the board in the last three years.
It commended Governor Sheriff Oborevwori for the sustained funding of DESOPADEC; and the House of Assembly for giving support to the governor in funding DESOPADEC.
The union however that the John Nani DESOPADEC Board despite the extension of its tenure should subject itself to public scrutiny on how it managed funds allocated to it.
The Chapel expressed concern that despite its sustained funding, DESOPADEC projects were hardly seen in the oil producing areas during in the past three years.
According to the release, “Where are the visible developmental projects in the oil-producing communities that justify the extension of tenure for the current governing board?”
The Chapel further noted that there is a need for the present board to justify the extended tenure by giving a detailed account of their stewardship for the past three years.
The NUJ recalled that DESOPADEC was established under the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission Law, 2007.
The Chapel stressed the law mandates the Commission to receive and exclusively administer 50 percent of the 13 percent Oil Derivation Fund accruing to the Delta State Government for the sole purpose of rehabilitating, developing, and providing socio-economic amenities to oil-producing communities across the state.
The union said DESOPADEC should abhor political patronage as it not established as a political compensation for political loyalists and cronies but as a strategic intervention agency meant to address decades of neglect, environmental degradation, and underdevelopment in oil-bearing communities.