Thursday, August 20, 2015

Itsekiri threaten court action over DESOPADEC Bill

THE Itsekiri ethnic na­tionality in Delta State yesterday, handed down a seven-day ultimatum to the state government to reverse or abolish the Delta State Oil Produc­ing Areas Development Commission (DESO­PADEC) Bill, which was passed into law recently, or face court action.

Addressing journalists in Warri by prominent Itsekiri women leader, Chief (Mrs.) Rita Lori- Ogbebor, the ethnic group described as, “criminal,” government’s intention to take from money belong­ing to oil and gas produc­ing communities.


She demanded for the refund of money alleged­ly stolen from the Itsekiri ethnic nationality over the years, expressing disgust over the attitude of the state government.

“Derivation principle of the law says that the pres­ident, upon the receipt of advice from the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, shall table before the Na­tional Assembly, propos­als from revenue account.

“Beside, 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,” Chief Lori-Ogbebor said.

She stressed that the constitution, which su­persedes all laws, had laid emphasis on deriva­tion, pointing out that the intention of the Federal Government was clear on the issue.

“Consequently, it is therefore, clear that no state governor has the right to divide or take money from the local government allocation or derivation as there is no law that can supersede the constitution,” Chief Lori- Ogbebor said.

She stated that any at­tempt to take money spe­cifically allocated to any of the three arms of gov­ernment was criminal.

According to her, the average money that came as derivation monthly was about N5billion.

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