On Thursday, Chief Rita Lori-Ogbebor debunked a news report by a certain group claiming that scholarship beneficiaries of Itsekiri extraction were facing untold hardship because of the freezing of the N2.1 billion belonging to the Itsekiri Regional Development Council (IRDC)
The Itsekiri leader and right activist dismissed the allegation, saying it was just a ploy to continue embezzling funds meant for the development of Itsekiri land as well as hurriedly vacate a court injunction on the money.
Lori-Ogbebor noted at a press conference in Lagos that the community development fund, contributed by Chevron Nigeria Limited, domiciled in a new generation bank and managed by IRDC, was being shadily run to the detriment of the people and the 23 Itsekiri communities in the Warri council areas of Delta State.
She stated that the Olu of Warri, Ogiamen Ikenwoli II, in his inaugural speech when he ascended the throne two years ago, had ordered the IRDC executives to vacate office for a new crop of officials to run the outfit efficiently in order to attract development and economic growth to the Itsekiri nation, a position, which the businesswoman is still abiding by.
Lori-Ogbebor said: “Two years ago, when the Olu of Warri came to the throne, in his inaugural speech, he urged all the officials running the IRDC to step aside for a fresh executive to run the affairs of the council in order to usher in development in the communities, still they have refused to harken to the voice of wisdom.
“Itsekiri nation is gone! The people have abandoned their communities because no healthcare facilities, no school, and no other infrastructures in the area irrespective of the money Chevron provides for the development of the 23 communities that make up the Itsekiri nation. We want the money to be used for the development of the area not for the enrichment of the few.”
According to Lori-Ogbebor, IRDC is a child of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the oil firm and communities where the former contributes certain amount of money under the stewardship of the IRDC for the development of the area and its people, “but unfortunately, the people and our environments are left to suffer because these officials are corruptly enriching themselves to the detriment of the Itsekiri nation.”
The hotelier stressed that the fight was for the good of all the people as she pleaded for cooperation of all stakeholders, adding that herself and the monarch were interested in a reorganised IRDC that should be managed transparently to achieve its mandate of turning around the lives of the people and the communities as a whole.
On this premise, she had approached a Delta State High Court sitting in Warri and presiding over by Justice M. Obi, to obtain an injunction in respect of the aforementioned fund.
Consequently, the court restrained the oil major from releasing more funds to the IRDC as well as barring the council and the bank from accessing the N2.1 billion lodged in six accounts.
(Thisday)
