LAGOS JANUARY 21ST (URHOBOTODAY)-LEADER of the Itsekiri Leaders of Thought, Pa Johnson Ayomike, Monday alleged that the $6 million sent by Chevron in the United States as contribution towards the development of the Ugborodo new town project in Delta State is missing.
The money, according to Ayomike, “was changed to naira and deposited in a bank account controlled by signatories named by Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, without the knowledge of registered trustees of Ugborodo community.”
He said the American ambassador has been informed of the disappearance of the Chevron’s $6 million and that the U.S. State Department is interested in the matter.
Ayomike, who addressed the media at his Warri home, “to set the Ugborodo record straight”, said the initial N900 million fixed at a 13 per cent annual interest has depleted after five years, when the account became public.
“Simple mathematical extrapolation suggests that the balance should have been N1.4 billion at this time.” The Itsekiri leader is seeking to know what happened to an additional N3,850 billion said to have been contributed by the government towards the development of the same new town project as, according to him, professional estate valuers have indicated that the N60 million job had been done on the site. He said the matter has been reported to the Inspector General of Police.
Ayomike blamed Uduaghan for the crisis in Ugborodo, saying he meddled in the local Ugborodo community affair by asking the elected chairman of the Governing Council of the Ugborodo Community Trust to step down in favour of the failed candidate, and when he was rebuffed, he asked his Special Adviser, Rear Admiral John Kpokpogri, to administer oath to an un-elected cohort, a favoured person, as chairman. He alleged that the governor “backs the illegal governing council led by the cohort as the authentic team despite the existence of a set of electoral rules embodied in the instrument long adopted by the community and registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission in Abuja.”
According to him, the people of Ugborodo are resisting “the tyrannical and oppressive imposition of persons who have demonstrated financial perfidy during their time in office.”
He disclosed that the person Uduaghan wants to impose on Ugborodo as chairman did not provide a financial report for the period that he served as the elected chairman of the governing council as required by the instrument of Ugborodo Community Trust.
Reacting to the allegations by the Itsekiri leaders, the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr. Sunny Ogefere, told The Guardian, the governor is not in any way involved in financial matters in Ugborodo land, but is only concerned with ensuring that there is peace and security of lives and property in the community.
The governor, he also said, does not meddle in the internal affairs of communities in Delta State, including Ugborodo.
Source: Guardian