13% derivation fund: Court hears N1.8tn suit against Uduaghan, Okowa Jan 29

Court hears N1.8tn suit against Uduaghan, Okowa Jan 29 over 13% oil derivation fund

A Delta State High Court in Warri, on Tuesday, fixed January 29 to hear a suit seeking to compel former governors Emmanuel Uduaghan and Ifeanyi Okowa, to account for the 13% oil derivation funds that accrued to Delta State during their respective tenures.

Justice V.O. Agboje, who fixed the hearing date on Tuesday, ordered substituted service of court papers on Uduaghan, who did not have legal representation in court.

But Okowa as well as the Delta State Government and DESOPADEC, who are the other defendants in the suit, had legal representation.

The suit was filed by members of the oil and gas-producing communities in Delta State, led by an environmental advocate, Chief Sheriff Mulade.

Recall that aggrieved members of the oil and gas-producing communities had recently staged a peaceful protest at the headquarters of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in Abuja, imploring the anti-graft agency to investigate and recover the allegedly misappropriated funds from Uduaghan and Okowa.

In the suit, the plaintiffs are praying the court to direct the ex-governors “to account for over N1.8tn of the 13% oil derivation funds to oil-producing communities of Delta State during their administration.”