News
Group Threatens To Protest Non Reconstitution Of DESPODEC Board

… Says Board Has Failed Woefully
… Wants FG Halt 13% Derivation To Delta Until…
Delta oil communities under the aegis of Delta Oil Producing Communities Advocacy Group, DOPAG, has threatened to protest the dismal performance of the Board of the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC) as well as the refusal of the state governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, to reconstitute the board whose tenure has long expired.
A statement signed by the group’s interim chairman, Aphensus Dibi, its secretary, Claude Oghenekvwe, and the Publicity Secretary, Collins Layefa, a soft copy of which was made available to INFO DAILY, said the group would, in the coming days and weeks, stage protests at Asaba, the state calital, and in Abuja, lamenting that the unabating situation has created untold hardship due to neglect of the oil communities.
According to the group, the protests would be to get the Federal Government to halt the payment of the 13% derivation allocation to the Delta State Government until it does the needful regarding dissolving the overstaying board of DESOPADEC or disbandment of the Commission altogether, so as to allow payment of the derivation revenue to the communities directly.
The group accused the government of not giving the communities the state’s 13% Derivation Fund allocation in accordance with the law establishing DESOPADEC, just as its claimed DESOPADEC is being used to settle political loyalists to the detrinent of the oil communities as the beneficiaries of the governor’s political largess were not accountable.
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The statement reads in part, “Government should pity the oil producing Communities and reconstitute the Board of DESOPADEC, since the tenure of the current Board has expired. Elongating the tenure of unperforming Board is a disservice to the hapless communities.
“The lack of accountability and transparency of the current Board is largely attributed to political patronage and interest groups. No reasonable people and society can develop with an unaccounted leadership.
“Today, all the Commission does is to pay salaries and receive their emoluments. Even that whose is due to the Communities has been withheld. This is a sad story!
“In the past, the oil companies that were our problem; today, we are the architect of our enslavement.
“Since the coming of this Board, there has been steady increase of oil price in the international market largely due to the Russian versus Ukraine war, and Delta State has been reported as being among states receiving highest due allocations from the Federation Account. These are facts. So, there is no excuse why the oil communities are suffering in the face of oil pollution, environmental degradation and all maladies of diseases currently ravaging the communities.
“A visitor to an average oil producing community in the state today would be shocked to see the level of decay of infrastructure, lack of basic amenities and government neglect, they lamented. There are no roads, not even even potable water. Yet, water is everywhere! We are suffering as people the Holy Bible described as “princes walking on foot”!
“Government is supposed to serve the people but the reverse is now the case. If this continues without the reconstitution of the Board, we will be left no option but to protest publicly and call on the Federal Government to stop further release of the 13% Derivation allocation to Delta State until this anomaly and the fraud associated with DESOPADEC is transparently investigated to instill probity, accountability and inspire confidence of the suffering communities.”
It added: “There is a law that made it mandatory to the state to remit 50% of the 13% Derivation Fund to the DESOPADEC board. That’s is the amount thatn is being pillaged and looted by the DESOPADEC Board headed by Bashorun Askia Ogieh, the governor’s helsman”, the group alleged.
Justifying its position, the group observed that the prevailing injustice and inexplicable neglect of the oil communities was bound to undermine the safety of oil facilities or guarantee seamless oil exploitation in these communities despite efforts by the government to beef up security around the facilities particularly in the Niger Delta.
The group said: “There is no amount of security network to allow the flow of oil in these communities with current injustice and deprivation of the people unabated.
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“We will protest in the days and weeks to come, both in Asaba, the state capital, and in Abuja until the Board of DESOPADEC is reconstituted.
“We must never be silent in the face of yesterday’s poor men looting monies that belong to us all. DESOPADEC has lost its usefulness under the present Delta State Government. A commission that should be transforming and developing host communities has been reduced to a mere ministry for political compensation.”
News
Delta-billionaire Lawuru To Grace Ijaw Media Conference As Guest Of Honour

The President of Egbema Brotherhood, Alaowei Promise Lawuru, is expected to grace the forthcoming Ijaw Media Conference 2025, as a guest of honour.
The event is scheduled to hold on December 3rd, 2025, in Warri, Delta State.
The annual media conference organised by the Ijaw Publishers Forum with the theme ‘Safeguarding Niger Delta’s Natural Resources for Future Generations,’ is second edition of the series.
Lawuru, youthful politician and businessman’s willingness to appear as guest of honour was made known
when a delegation of the Central Working Committee led by Pastor Arex Akemotubo paid him a visit to inform him of the forthcoming event and his expected role.
READ ALSO:IPF Holds Annual Ijaw Media Conference December
In his presentation, Akemotubo explained that this year’s theme was chosen out of concern for the growing strain on the region’s land and waters.
The Publisher of WaffiTV stressed that the forum wants to strengthen public understanding, support honest reportage, and encourage leaders to protect what the Niger Delta holds for the next generation.
He addex that Lawuru’s history of service and steady involvement in community work made him a natural choice for the role.
READ ALSO:IPF Commends Tompolo’s Commitment To Security In Delta, Nigeria
Chief Lawuru welcomed the invitation and spoke warmly about the need for shared responsibility among stakeholders and groups such as the IPF.
He commended the forum for using the media to defend the region’s interests and promised full support for the conference.
Lawuru further urged other stakeholders across the Ijaw nation to lend their weight to efforts that safeguard the environment.
News
Senate Recommends Death Penalty For Kidnappers

The Senate has passed a resolution classifying kidnapping as an act of terrorism, stipulating that an amendment to the Terrorism Act be made to impose the maximum penalty of death.
The resolution was made during plenary on Wednesday.
Under the new law, according to the upper legislative arm, once a kidnapping conviction is established, the death penalty must be applied.
Nigeria suffers from a persistent security crisis fuelled by attacks and violence by “bandit” gangs that raid villages, kill people, and kidnap for ransom.
READ ALSO:Senate Uncovers $300bn Unaccounted Crude Oil Sales
In response to recent kidnappings and attacks by terrorists, President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday ordered a total security cordon over the forests in Kwara State.
Series Of Abductions
Bandits had struck the Isapa community of the Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State, abducting 11 residents.
The attack came about two weeks after and 38 worshippers were abducted from a Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) in the Eruku community of the state.
Terrorists also attacked St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools, Papiri, in Niger State, abducting more that 300 school children and staff in a resurgence of the mass kidnappings that have long harrowed Africa’s most populous country.
READ ALSO:Bill To Establish Federal Oil And Gas Hospital In Delta Scales Second Reading In Senate
In the same week, 24 schoolgirls were taken from the Government Comprehensive Girls Secondary School, Maga, Danko Wasagu Local Government Area in Kebbi State, but regained freedom on Tuesday.
At least 50 taken from St Mary’s Catholic school also managed to escape, but more than 265 children and teachers are still being held.
Nigeria’s high-profile mass kidnapping was that of the Chibok schoolgirls in 2014, when Boko Haram forced 276 girls from their dormitories in the North-East region.
More than a decade later, man of the Chibok girls are still missing.
News
FG Threatens To Seize Dana Air Assets

The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has disclosed that the Federal Government may recover and sell the assets of Dana Air to refund passengers and travel agents whose funds remain trapped following the suspension of the airline’s operations.
The Minister disclosed this in Abuja on Tuesday at the Ministry’s fourth quarter stakeholders’ engagement to enhance governance for effective service delivery in aviation with the theme: “leveraging public feedback to drive excellence in aviation services”.
According to him, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) will be directed to probe why funds trapped by the airline are yet to be refunded.
He revealed that the Authority suspended the operations of the airline as a matter of choice between safety and disaster.
READ ALSO:NCAA Petitions IGP Over KWAM 1’s Unruly Conduct In Abuja Airport
“For Dana, the problem is that it was a choice between safety and disaster. So we didn’t take the commercial thing as priority. The priority was safety, and we all looked at the damning reports that we had met on the table.
“It was a decision of the NCAA to suspend them, but I pushed them to say, look, these are the reports we are seeing on the table about safety record, about lack of standards that put the lives of Nigerians at risk. If they continue flying, I don’t know whether most of us will be here. Many of us would have been victims of one of those flights. God forbid.”
According to him, “I have asked Najomo to dig deep to find out how those passengers and agents will be refunded. He has to dig deep on that.
“One solution will also be that if that same individual or those entities are trying to come back to aviation under any guise, whether to go and register a new AOC or use any business within the aviation sector, they have to go and settle their debts first.
READ ALSO:NCAA Seeks K1 De Ultimate’s Arrest, Petitions AGF, IG
“We should look at their assets. There are assets that are still available. Let them sell their assets. Let’s cannibalize their revenue and pay people. Let’s find a way to go after their assets and get money to pay Nigerians who are owed.
“NCAA should do that because they can’t get away with it.”
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