By Our Reporter, Asaba
Barely three weeks when the Delta state governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan at a recent press conference in Government House, Asaba accused Wellington Okrika, one of the agitators and a former chairman of Delta State Oil Producing Development Commission (DESOPADEC), of looting funds from the commission, Okrika has turned down an obvious bribery offer made to him by Uduaghan as chairman, Delta state advisory committee of water way security.
Confiding in on Urhobotoday, impeccable sources close to the former DESOPADEC boss who they referred to as Mr. 13% disclosed that “Wonders they say shall never end. Can you imagine Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan in a bid to please former DESOPADEC chairman, Chief Wellington Okrika, popularly known as Mr. 13% whom Uduaghan had accused recently during a press conference of looting DESOPADEC funds, came again and approached Okrika with a creek offer of appointment as chairman, Delta state advisory committee of the water way security but Okrika turned down the creek offer and told the governor that he is not interested”
It was reliably gathered that Uduaghan had dissolved the committee last year following what an impeccable source said a member of the committee offended the governor adding that there has been serious insecurity in the water ways for some time now.
Another source disclosed that when Okrika was in office as DESOPADEC chairman, he was one of the financiers of the committee.
It was observed that during the swearing in ceremony of the water way security committee Monday morning in Government House Annex, Warri by Governor Uduaghan, Okrika deliberately refused to show up even as he was being expected to come and take the oath of office.
All efforts to reach Okrika failed as calls put across to his mobile line were not answered but a relative of Okrika who pleaded for anonymity confirmed the story but declined to comment further.
It would be recalled that the agitation for the 13% revenue recently took a dramatic twist as Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan and one of the major agitators, Okrika were engaged in a war of words.
. Uduaghan had accused Wellington Okrika, one of the agitators and a former chairman of Delta State Oil Producing Development Commission (DESOPADEC), of looting funds from the commission.
Speaking at the press centre in Asaba, the state capital, the governor lambasted the agitators of the 13 percent derivation fund. “The agitators are those who no longer have access to pack funds from DESOPADEC,” said Mr. Uduaghan. He continued: “During a meeting with the agitators in my office in Asaba, I asked Okrika why he didn’t carry this agitation when he was the chairman of DESOPADEC. The issue is a constitutional one and until the court decides otherwise there is nothing we can do.”
But in his reactions, when contacted on the phone, the former DESOPADEC boss, Mr. Okrika, described the governor’s comments as mere blackmail just to divert the people’s attention from the main issue at hand.
“Uduaghan is just blackmailing people from gaining access to their money,” he said. “Because I was chairman of DESOPADEC is not the issue now. Uduaghan cannot blackmail me, he cannot indict me.”