Host Communities Producing Oil and Gas, of Itsekiri extraction on Wednesday stormed the Delta State House of Assembly (DTHA) premises in protest against the provision of N600 million in the 2016 budget of Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, (DESOPADEC).
Loading ...The protesters carried placards with VARIOUS inscriptions such as ‘DESOPADEC money is for development’, ‘Itsekiri say do not use security vote to syphon our money ‘, ‘ Mr Speaker, use our money for development not security’, among others, vowed to resist any attempt to misappropriate their money.
Chanting Itsekiri songs, the people condemned the budgetary provision of N600 million, saying it was against the purpose for which the commission was established.
Addressing newsmen, Delta State Chairman of HOSTCOM, Mr Benjamin Iwetan who doubles as the leader of Itsekiri HOSTCOM said the commission’s money was meant for the development of oil producing communities, urging the state House of Assembly to appropriate the N600 million properly for the development of the communities.
“Our money cannot be appropriated for security. If properly utilized, this money can assist to take some of our unemployed youths off the labour market.” Noting that they were not against security provisions, he said that “security votes cannot be drawn from DESOPADEC”, he added.
Addressing the protesters, the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. MondayOvwigho Igbuya, promised that the House would look into their agitation, as the budget was still being looked into by the House.
