A human rights group, the Ijaw People’s Development Initiative, IPDI, has called on Delta State Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, to intervene in the ongoing crisis between Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC) and its Indigenous Contractors’ Forum over non-payment of contracts.
The group in a statement signed by its national president, Comrade Ozobo Austin, said the issue has been brewing for some time, with contractors threatening to protest and picket DESOPADEC offices if the matter isn’t resolved.
He said the contractors had been seeking for Oborevwori’s intervention in addressing the non-payment of contracts, which had caused significant hardship for the contractors – coupling with increasing bank debit files for loans sought for the execution of such contracts but the governor had been allegedly snubbing them.
The statement reads, “It is shameful and disappointing that the governor remained mute “about the outcries of the DESOPADEC contractors. He is expected to play a mediatory role if DESOPADEC is truly an independent state interventionist agency. But in this case the governor is automatically involved in the imbroglio because there is no independence in the affairs of the commission.
“We don’t think Delta State is too poor to an extent it can’t pay petty contracts, if it is an inherited debts, he should talk to them on how such debts will be cleared in no distance time. His actions are poor. Maybe the debts were owed by the previous administration and he didn’t want to pay. But he should be reminded that he was part of the previous administration, and the previous administration bankrolled him to be the Governor of the state, so why will he not pay such debts, that can only happen in a banana Republic”
“We are worried about whether DESOPADEC is still getting 50 percent of the 13 percent derivation in Delta State, if it is getting it we believe there would be more funds for the commission to service all these contractors debts and award more contracts. We are suspecting that there is something fishy in the commission, hence the commission is epileptic and suffering from oratory-cancer,” the group added.
“It is our humble appeal that the Governor should endeavour to address the aggrieved contractors in immediate effect to avoid escalation of the matter. If it is not resolved, we will mobilise Delta State civil society organisations in solidarity to join the proposed protest to cripple activities of the commission”, –IPDI emphasised.
The group, while urging the governor to use his office to find a solution to the crisis, which, according to IPDI, would help to alleviate their suffering and ensure their fair compensation for their work, noted that their appeal to the governor is a clear indication that the situation needs urgent attention to prevent further escalation.