Environmental activist, Celestine Akpobari, has criticised the House of Representatives over recent fund misappropriation allegations against the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP)
His reaction follows the launch of a probe into the management of the $1 billion oil spill clean-up funds in the Niger Delta by the Green Chamber.
According to him, no funds are currently missing, describing those behind the report of missing funds as enemies of the people.
“I have been around since the inauguration of this project. I was appointed as a member of the Presidential team to launch and design the project. I was part of the community people who launched and designed the project, and also a member of the HYPREP Council Board. I was in all the meetings from Nigeria to Geneva. So, I have been around.
“At the moment and since the inception of this administration, when President Tinubu removed Professor Nenibarini Zabbey, the Project Coordinator, it led to a protest that brought him back. If he wasn’t doing well, if the project was not on track, because this is a community project. It is the product of our struggle; the money is our blood. So no Ogoni man will stand by to watch our money being stolen, and the person will still be sitting there, and they will still protest to bring him back.
“I can tell you that peace has been restored in Ogoni. The clean-up project is 69 per cent completed. They have planted over 1.4 million seedlings of mangoes, and over 360 community persons in the business of planting and nursing. The hospital is on. Even those things that were not talked about in the project, such as scholarships, marine life has returned. Seafood is back in our rivers. So, I can beat my chest as a community person that the project is on course under Prof Zabbey.
“Most of the people writing the grave allegations against HYPREP are enemies of the Ogoni people who didn’t give the project a chance to survive.
“Seeing that we will be enjoying stable electricity. Seeing that our communities are enjoying portable water. Seeing that our post-graduate students come home with some money at the end of the year. Many things are happening. Ogoni has become a prosperous site- they are not happy.
“There is no scientific report right now that will tell us that, right now, things are not going well. I am not saying that nothing has gone wrong in HYPREP, but there is no scientific report. What we are doing right now is putting the cart before the horse, because no audit has been conducted. So, I wonder how such a report came about.
“People should be careful what they write and believe in. I can tell you that this project is the heartbeat of the Ogoni people, and the Ogoni people will not take any nonsense from anybody as far as this project is concerned.”
He denied knowledge of any previous audit on HYPREP accounts.
“I wouldn’t know, but you can direct that question to the office of the auditor general of the federation.
“I would like to see the report too. And if Ogoni sees that something has gone wrong, and they invite external auditors to audit the project, I will be very happy because the money that is being spent is Ogoni money, not government money.”
“It was UNEP that conducted the audit of the Ogoni environment, and there is no project or money approved that they were not part of the process. And they have supervised the project until this moment. So you can not be holier than the pope.”
He alleged that the Federal Government had yet to drop its part of the $1 billion for the cleanup.
“The government is yet to cover its own part of the project. If they care so much about us, they should bring money into this project. The $1 billion was a takeoff grant, with over $300 million over the next 12 years. This project is almost 10 years old now, and the government is yet to drop one kobo. It means that if money is spent according to specification, the $1 billion would have been exhausted.
“We need money for this project. We need money to conduct an environmental assessment in other Niger Delta communities, because Ogoni will not be clean until other communities in the Niger Delta are also clean. The communities are linked due to the fragile ecosystem.
“Those who love Ogoni and the Niger Delta should look for money and give to HYPREP to conduct an environmental assessment.”
He called for the reversal of divestments by international oil companies from the Niger Delta.
“They should also ensure that the papers that have been signed to allow those who have polluted our land to escape in the name of divestment should be reversed. They should not allow companies that have polluted and destroyed our ecosystems to run away.
“People should stop stealing money from HYPREP. The money in HYPREP is not for them. The money in HYPREP is blood money. It is our money and won’t go to any other person’s pocket.
“Only Ogoni can say whether or not money is being stolen in HYPREP,” he said.
