Governor
of Katsina State Alhaji Aminu Bello Masari has said Niger Delta leaders
must come clean on how they have spent proceeds from the sale of Crude
Oil allocated to the region over the years.
“For
six years,” Masari said, “we had a Niger Delta president. Let us see
what difference he made in six years when he was president. When the
excess crude account became pocket money, how much of the money went to
the Niger Delta?”
In an interview with the current edition of The Interview, Masari called out Niger Delta leaders, challenging them to “come clean” on how they have managed the region’s resources.
“The
interview features Masari firing all cylinders,” read a statement by
Azu Ishiekwene, Managing Director/Editor-In-Chief of the magazine. “He
took on Senate President Saraki, explained why Obasanjo’s third term bid
failed, and spoke, at length for the first time, on ‘budget padding.’
And then, he removed his gloves on his predecessor, Ibrahim Shema, and
the Niger Delta.”
Although
Masari did not name names, the reference to a Niger Delta president
clearly indicated former President Goodluck Jonathan, the immediate past
president, under whose presidency oil pricea averaged $100 per barrel
in the international market.
Asked
what he did to ensure accountability of oil proceeds when he was
Speaker of the House of Representatives and also a ranking member of the
Peoples Democratic Party at the time, Masari said, “The House of
Representatives has been friendly to the people of the Niger Delta than
any other institution in the country.”
He
asked the Federal Government to publish how much the region had
received since the ’13 percent derivation’ sharing arrangement started.
The
resurgence of violence in the Niger Delta by militant group Avengers in
the last year has led to massive losses to the country’s oil revenue,
with peace efforts stalling.
Over
the weekend, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Dr. Ibe Kachikwu
said the Nigerian government had spent over $40 billion in the Niger
Delta in the past 12 years.