By Festus Ahon

ASABA—Activities at Delta State House of Assembly were, yesterday, crippled for hours as members of Host Communities of Nigeria Producing Oil and Gas, HOSTCOM, stormed the assembly complex in protest against a bill sent by Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan to scrap the state Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, DESOPADEC, and replace it with five district agencies for the five ethnic nationalities slated for second reading yesterday.

Speaking to newsmen during the protest, National Coordinator of HOSTCOM, Prince Maikpobi Okareme, who led the over 1,000 protesters, said the protest was to register their displeasure over the bill which, according to him, is not in the interest of oil producing communities in the state.

He said the 2014 budget of N39 billion which, according to him, was passed in February this year and received by the commission in March, was to pay for outstanding job certificates.

DESOPADEC funding

He, however, alleged that payment schedule of 30 percent of certificate value, based on the budgetary provision sent to the bank were not honoured, adding that there was no cash back up.

He said: “So where is the N39 billion, which ought to have accumulated as at December 31, 2014?”

Okareme said they had instituted a case against the state government seeking the interpretation of DESOPADEC law and the actual derivation funds meant for the commission.

He said: “We have discovered that about 25 percent of the 13 percent is what is being budgeted for DESOPADEC yearly as against the 50 percent of the 13 percent as provided for by the law.

“We, therefore, call on the House of Assembly not to be part of the plot to short-change the oil producing communities.”

Addressing the protesters, Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Mr. Peter Onwusanya, urged them to remain calm and law abiding.

He assured them that the House would not betray the confidence reposed in them by the people.

Onwusanya said the House would do the needful and subject the bill to public hearing to enable all stakeholders make their input.