Johnkennedy Uzoma, Owerri
A former Speaker Imo State House of Assembly, Hon. Goodluck Opiah, has lampooned former governors Achike Udenwa and Rochas Okorocha for allegedly mismanaging the 13 per cent oil derivation funds meant for oil producing bearing communities of the state.
Hon. Opiah, who is also a former member of the House of Representatives for Ohaji/Egbema,Oguta and Oru West Federal Constituency, said this, in Owerri, on Thursday, while inaugurating a Task Force on bunkering in the oil region of the state.
Hon. Opiah, who is now the Special Adviser to Governor Hope Uzodimma and Coordinator of Oil and Gas, revealed that under the eight years administration of former Governor Achike Udenwa between 1999 and 2007, nobody from the oil producing communities benefited from the funds.
He regretted that the former governor bluntly refused his idea when he approached him as lawmaker before the creation of Imo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (ISOPADEC) to use what was available then to development oil region, the purpose for which the fund was meant for, but he chose to divert the funds.
The former legislator also disclosed that the oil region equally witnessed another worse period during the eight years regime of former Governor Okorocha.
He said the administrator the rather than embark on meaningful projects through ISOPADEC for the development of the area, ended up in releasing N500 million for the people in area to buy arms to kill themselves.
He said that it was very disheartening that the Governor Okorocha could not point at anything done in the oil producing communities, maintaining that billions of Naira was actually wasted during the period.
He regretted that Governor Okorocha’s administration started yet-to-be completed Marin University project sited at Osemoto in Oguta council with ISOPDEC funds.
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To the 40-member Task Force committee, Hon. Opiah charged them to shun extortion in the course of their duties to avoid the risk of been dropped.
He enumerated some of the duties of the task force committee which is categorized in 4 different team namely Imo team, Ohaji team, Egbema team and Oguta team to include checking all bunkering activities in the areas among others
The former Imo Assembly Speaker, who described the Task Force as the only one approved by the governor, reminded them that part of their duties would be to track down criminals in the areas and bring them to book
He said that government had chosen them for job as a way to keep them busy so as to avoid involving in any criminal activities in the localities.
While charging them to display discipline in the course of discharging their duties, advised them to be an good ambassadors of the area by avoiding any action that would bring create bad image to the area.