Ikimi tells Lori-Ogbebor not to drag Governor Okowa to court

Executive Director of the Centre for the Vulnerable and Underprivileged, Warri, Delta State, Mr. Oghenejabor Ikimi, weekend, advised Niger Delta activist, Chief Rita Lori-Ogbebor, to abandon her plan to drag the Delta State Government to court over the newly signed Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, DESOPADEC, law, saying it would be a futile exercise.
Ikimi, also an activist, said Lori-Ogbebor’s observation on host communities being owners of the 13 per cent derivation fund was unquestionable, but Section 162 (2) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), was silent on the way the funds should be managed.
Lori-Ogbebor had, last Wednesday, given the state government a seven-day ultimatum to repeal the law or she would head for the court.
Ikimi, however, said the reality was that there was no provision for direct payment of 13 per cent derivation to host communities and that was why some state governments in the Niger Delta established Commissions to manage the fund.
“As a way of resolving the above lacunae politically, a Derivation Fund Commission established by an Act of parliament was proposed in recent past by some Niger Delta activists, having seen the fruitlessness in embarking on litigation.
“A board membership consisting of a Chairman, secretary and members to be drawn from the nine states within the region and a staff of the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) was also suggested for the purpose of supervising the distribution of the 13 percent derivation fund in full to states with oil and gas producing commissions,” he said.
He asserted that the commission would also manage in full the funds for those states within the region that are without commissions.