The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) is worried by government inaction or delays to act on the monumental corruption in HYPREP which has come to the fore through an investigation published by an online news media, Premium Times.
MOSOP does not only see the HYPREP contract scam as a permanent stain on President Buhari’s anti-corruption war but a dent on the credibility of the Ogoni cleanup to which the president himself has severally pledged to be committed.
We therefore urge the president to act immediately to dissolve the Governing Council of HYPREP which took these scandalous decisions to allow an independent investigation into the contract scandals in HYPREP which is directly threatening the Ogoni cleanup programme.
Indeed, President Buhari must act on this sham called Ogoni cleanup. It is ridulous that this morning, the Project Coordinator was on a Port Harcourt radio claiming that HYPREP was sending persons to Geneva for training on cleanup practices. Just recently, the environment ministry led a delegation to Geneva o understudy what they called best practices on environmental cleanup.
All these are coming even after the managers of the programme including HYPREP and the Federal Ministry of Environment claim to have mobilized contractors with huge sums to commence site work. These are contradictions suggesting a cover–up and a desperate effort to justify recess maladministration of cleanup funds and we urge the president not to turn blind eyes at these corruption in HYPREP.
MOSOP notes that failing to dissolve the HYPREP Governing Council now and instituting a robe into the contract scam truly reinforces our fears that the Ogoni cleanup programme is only a bait to persuade the Ogoni people to allow oil resumption in Ogoniland without addressing the fundamental demands of the Ogoni people. Government inaction further supports the views expressed by several others that government is either not serious about the Ogoni cleanup or may have designed it to fail
We therefore call for the immediate dissolution of the Governing Council of HYPREP which took these scandalous decisions to save whatever is left of the credibility of the Ogoni cleanup programme.
We note that it is unacceptable to us that companies which were not registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission at the time of the per-qualification assessment could make the list of contractors and HYPREP and the Environment ministry claim to have followed due process. This is a stain on the anti-corruption war of the President Buhari’s administration and should not be tolerated.
These contract scandals are therefore an assault on the person and integrity of the Presidents anti-corruption war to which we expect immediate action.
We are witnesses to the specifications advertised by HYPREP and are shocked at how HYPREP jettisoned all its standards and awarded contracts to companies that were either not registered or experienced in environmental restoration and cleanup.
The implication is that is that there were serious compromises which run contrary to our procurement and out-sourcing laws and the government cannot be silent on these monumental fraud.
MOSOP commends the Federal House of Representatives which has taken a bold step to restrict access to funds to these fraudulent contractors and urge the house to also courageously commence an investigation into the contract scandals
Signed::
Dcn. Monday Neeka Ziinu
General Secretary, MOSOP
May 17, 2019
