The Executive Assistant to the Governor of Delta State on Communications, Fred Latimore Oghenesivbe has advised the federal government not to use Delta recovered funds for projects outside the state, saying that such move is inconsistent with certain provisions of the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria as amended.
Oghenesivbe, a lawyer in a swift reaction to the planned deployment of the £4.2 million repatriated by the British government, said the funds were declared Delta State Money by UK authorities and should be used for state and federal projects within Delta.
He pointed out that what the APC national government under President Muhammadu Buhari, plan to do with the recovered money amounts to robbing Peter to pay Paul since the funds have been lawfully tagged “Delta money”.
The governor’s aide commended members of the Federal House of Representatives over a resolution on Wednesday instructing the Attorney General of the Federation and the Ministry of Finance to perfect documentation for the remittance of the repatriated funds to the rightful owner, Delta state government, describing the move as patriotic and forthright.
He further asserted that the federal government did not do well by unilaterally deciding what to do with Delta state recovered funds without recourse to due process of negotiating with the state government and the governor, Dr Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa.
According to him, under subsisting laws, the property of Delta state cannot be confiscated, diverted or used by the federal government under the guise of fighting against corruption as can be deduced from the present scenario.
Okowa’s EAC noted that the position of the House of Representatives on the repatriated funds cannot be faulted because the money was rightly tagged “Delta State funds,” urging the Buhari administration to expedite action to remit the money to Delta or use the funds for federal projects in the state.
Oghenesivbe argued that what is obtainable under the law and in the instant case, is for the federal government to deduct legal charges, including the cost of logistics and remit the balance to the Delta state government.
According to him, the other alternative is for the federal government to consult the Delta state governor and the government, so as to reach an amicable agreement on how to use the funds to initiate or complete critical state and federal government projects in Delta State, and not to divert Delta recovered funds for ongoing federal projects in other states of the federation while neglecting the genuine owner of the money.
