A socio cultural group, the Ogoni Peoples Assembly, OPA, has issued a 14-day ultimatum to the federal ministry of environment to rectify what it described as the imbalance in the administrative and procurement structures of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remidiation Project, HYPREP or face mass civil protest from the entire Ogoni communities.
The group in a press statement issued in Port Harcourt on Monday by it’s leaders, Rev Probel Williams and Secretary General, Evidence Enoch, said it has uncovered schemes to allegedly subvert the leadership of HYPREP especially the office of the Project Coordination through targeted sabotage and grandstanding thereby preventing him from delivering on mandate to justify his removal and replacement with interests from outside Ogoni.
The group said it is in custody of approved list of alleged HYPREP awarded companies from BPP and warned the management of HYPREP to be weary of allowing such list get to the public domain saying that it will trigger mother of all protest.
The group expressed worry that only four indigenous companies owned by the Ogonis made the list as the only qualified Ogoni indigenous companies despite a demand for 60% participation by indigenous contractors.
It alleged that the perpetrators of the tender and award are evil and do not want any project executed, warning that “the blood of the Ogoni martyrs will be invoked against any man attempting to shortchange Ogoni of dividends of her struggle.”
“Why will any agency of government run with two Procurement heads if not to brew conflict and corrupt practices?
Why will tenures of a particular controversial Procurement head be continually elongated and renewed despite another qualified Procurement officer on hand?
“Why will the office of the Project director be magnified over and above the office of the Project Coordinator so much so that the Project Coordinator becomes subservient and helpless even when the said Project Director had free reign during his interim management of the agency?”
“OPA therefore resolves on HYPREP that: The Project Coordinator must be allowed to function to succeed or fail freely. The Hon. Minister, Project Management Office, Governing Council and indeed the board should show the corruptible procurement head, the exit door otherwise OPA will soon react”
“The Hon. Minister should honour the hierarchy of HYPREP and embolden the Project Coordinator to deliver on mandate without recourse to subterfuge and subversion using a subordinate to sabotage the good intensions of an Ogoni man who had been involved in project from UNEP Report’s inception. Ogonis know how to punish their own and the Project Coordinator is already being summoned for accountability and explanations on the slothful project timelines”
“Project delivery and execution must be expedited, of course with a minimum of 60% Ogoni. Certainly not with the privileged BPP list of only 4 indigenous Ogoni companies on a list of 37 vendors. We maintain our earlier resolve of 60% Ogoni participation or project be grounded.
The Shoreline Inter-Tidal Remediation Works must run paripasu with the 37 soil remediation or no deal,” the group stated.
