ITSEKIRI INTEREST GROUP COMMENDS THE ITSEKIRI LEADERS OF THOUGHT FOR HOLDING THE GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABLE
The Itsekiri Interest Group on Tuesday the 3rd of December 2024, commended the Itsekiri Leaders of Thoughts for taking its place as the voice of the Itsekiri National and most especially holding the Government of Delta State accountable for her actions.
The Chairman of the group while addressing press men started as follows: It should be noted that the Desopadec struggle was birthed by the Advocacy of Itsekiris. Senator Franklin Atake advocated for Resource Control being carried to its logical conclusion. The local governments concerned should get their share of the resources, especially the derivation of petroleum resources. He advocated for the establishment of 50% derivation, with 25% to the state government and 25% to the local governments. The balance can be retained by the Federal Government. Senator Atake opposed most vehemently anything that did not conform to the principles and the rule of law.
Two of such examples would suffice. First, when the Senate passed what was called the Allocation Of Revenue (Federation Account) Act 1981 and the then President, Shehu Shagari unconstitutionally signed it into law (as was eventually upheld in the Supreme Court – see Attorney-General, Bendel State v Attorney-General, Federation & Others [1982] 3 NCLR, 1,) he went to court challenging the purported law on the ground that it was unconstitutional, void and of no effect having regard to the provisions in sections 149(2) & (3) of the 1979 Constitution of the Federal Republic.
In 2001 Chief Rita Lori Ogbebor took the Delta State Government to Court for the mismanagement of the 13% Derivative Fund and argued that this fund should be used for only oil producing communities. This case went as far as the Court of Appeal and the Delta State Government led by Chief James Ibori reluctantly signed this bill into law and gave birth to DESOPADEC. It is unfortunate that the Itsekiri Nation is yet to benefit tangibly from this Commission even after we generously accepted the award of 29% of the DESOPADEC allocation a figure far less than the quantum of Crude oil production.
The Itsekiri Interest Group is therefore lending support to the Itsekiri Leaders of thoughts in demand of a fair share of our rights in terms of Budget, Allocation and Projects.
Signed
Gbubemi Awala
Chairman
Itsekiri Interest Group
Eyitemi Atake
Secretary
Itsekiri Interest Group
Leave a Reply