The Governor of Abia State, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, has disclosed that the Abia State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, ASOPADEC, has managed at least the sum of N14 billion in the last 70 months.
In a recent interview granted to The Nation Newspaper, Ikpeazu said he was sure the interventionist Agency receives close to N300 million monthly.
On the issue of the alleged marginalisation of Ukwa West, the only oil producing Local Government Area in Abia State, the governor said:
“Ukwa East and West have in the last seven years remained in charge of the Abia State Oil Producing Area Development Commission (ASOPADEC), the interventionist agency charged with the responsibility of developing oil communities. If I have been here for 70 months, ASOPADEC has managed at least N14bn in the 70 months.
“I am sure that they get up to N300m in some months and they made sure that in the law, it is exclusive to the two local governments. It is exclusive to Ukwa West in particular. So, do you need to tell a man that it is normal to move away from a scorching sun, especially, if you know that you are protected by the constitution and you have a mandate to lift your people from where they are? But again, at the state level, I have some projects that I earmarked for Ukwa East and West. I have paid twice to connect Ukwa East to the national grid. The first time I released the money to them in the community, the money wasn’t used for the purpose it was meant for. It is only now that I released the same amount of money that they are looking at how to connect them back to the national grid.”
