A Non-Governmental Organization, NGO, in the Niger-Delta, Network Advancement Programme for Poverty and Disaster Risks Reduction (NAPPDRR), has called for accountability from Akwa Ibom State government on the expenditure of the 13 per cent derivation funds accruable to the state for the development of the oil producing communities.
President of the group, Al-Mustapher Emem-Edoho, who said this in Uyo, the state capital, at the weekend that, said they were empowered by the Freedom of Information Act (FoI), 2011 to demand the records of expenditure and accountability of the proceeds of the funds in the development of the oil bearing communities of Esit Eket, Ibeno, Eket, Onna and others, from June 2015 till date from the state Governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel.
The letter to Governor Udom Emmanuel titled, “Demand for Official Records and Information of Income and Expenditure of the 13 per cent Derivation Funds Accrued to Akwa Ibom State and its Utilization in the Oil Producing Communities in Akwa Ibom State, Pursuant to Section 1&3 of the Freedom of Information Act, 2011” and dated January 3, 2017 which was made available to newsmen, particularly stated that, oil producing communities in the state have suffered chronic environmental abuses and degradation due to mindless exploitation and exploration by oil multinational companies in the area over years.
He said, accountability on the part of the state government was necessary since, the social and economic derivatives accrued to the oil producing communities and its people, was far below the United Nation’s minimum standard of living.
According to him, poverty and hunger today are biting harder and under-employment among young school leavers in the state remain unacceptably high, as the Akwa Ibom government has failed to apply the 13 per cent derivation fund to the state for the rapid development of the oil producing communities as required by the law enacted by the last administration in the state.
“The law makes a special percentage of the derivation funds exclusively for the development of oil producing communities,” he said, while also requesting the establishment of the Akwa Ibom Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission (AKOMPADEC), to deepen rapid rural development through the provision of infrastructural amenities to the people.
Al-Mustapher Edoho however, maintained that, his group would not hesitate to institute legal action against the state government, should Governor Emmanuel fail to set up the interventionist agency to usher in unprecedented rural development of the oil producing communities of the state as demanded by law.
“Let us state without any fear of contradiction that, if Governor Udom Emmanuel, whom we are well pleased with, can muster courage to set up this intervention development agency in Akwa Ibom State, posterity will forever immortalize him as an icon of development and a champion. To do otherwise, history will never exonerate him from culpable dereliction of duty that would be imposed on him,” he stated.