NIGER DELTA

IMOKE WANTS PRUDENT MANAGEMENT OF LG FUNDS
Removed Gov. Liyel Imoke of Cross River has called for prudent management of local government funds with strict adherence to accountability, transparency and principle of value for money.
The governor made the call in Calabar at a workshop entitled ``Institutionalising Due Process Mechanism in Local Government Administration'' for council officials.
Represented by Mr Fidelis Ugbo, the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Imoke said prudent management of resources would make it easier for government to provide social amenities to the people.

``The presence of these amenities will no doubt make business to thrive and create the right environment for more social interaction and political development,'' he said.

The governor said no contract should be paid without a Due Process Certificate signed and issued by the Due Process Office of the councils.

Speaking earlier, Dr Tom Ogar, the Special Adviser to the Governor, Due Process and Price Intelligence Department, said the purpose of the workshop was to institutionalise due process reforms in the various councils.

Ogar said the Due Process and Intelligence Department was formed to effectively regulate the procurement system and strictly apply the principle of ``value for money'' in the use of public funds.

According to Ogar, the need for efficiency, transparency and accountability in appropriation and utilisation of public funds could not be over-emphasised.

He called on the council administration to create frontiers that would enhance growth and development.

Also speaking, Mr Edem Ekong, the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, said entrenching due process in the system was a good mechanism to adopt to slow down corruption and eradicate it.

``When we do succeed in slowing down corruption in the system, we will engender confidence in the country and in the people,'' he said.

COURT ACQUITS MAN FOR ALLEGED ILLEGAL OIL BUNKERING
A Port Harcourt chief magistrate's court has discharged and acquitted one Ifeanyi Idigo, 35, accused of illegal oil bunkering for lack of evidence.

The presiding magistrate, Mr Leba Adookor, gave the judgment when the matter came up for hearing in Port Harcourt.

He said there was no tangible evidence before him that linked Idigo with the offence.

He said after listening to the testimony of the police officer who investigated the matter, it was not necessary to detain him any further.

``In view of the evidence of the police which exonerated you from the offence, my court cannot continue to keep you in custody", Adookor stated.

Earlier, the officer that investigated the case, Ins. Ukah Arauah, had told the court that after investigations, the police was unable to uncover any link between the accused and the offence.

Arauah said: ``I went to the scene of the alleged crime at Ase Ndoni and saw a boat loaded with empty drums and no petroleum product in them.

``I also went to the military camp at Bori, where I spoke to an officer that handled the matter and he confirmed that the suspect was not caught with anything.''

The Police prosecutor, Ins. Jonathan Ekamadu, had on June 6, 2008 arraigned Idigo on one count charge of unlawfully conveying without license, a vessel loaded with petroleum products.

Ekamadu who claimed that the suspect committed the offence on May 10, 2008 at Ase Ndoni water-way of Rivers State stated that his act contravened section 1 (17) (B) of the Miscellaneous Offence Act.

The freed suspect in a reaction thanked God for saving his life, adding ``members of security agencies almost maltreated me to death on the day I was wrongfully caught.''

Idigo, who said he is married with two children added that he was on his way to visit a relative when some youths from Ase Ndoni caught him and handed him over to security men.

LEAKAGE DISRUPTS PRODUCTION AT QUA IBOE TERMINAL
Oil production at the Qua Iboe Crude Oil Export Terminal was disrupted recently due to a leakage from the tank farm into the shore line in Ibeno, near Eket, Akwa Ibom.

Sources at the oil facility told our correspondent that the tank farm which processed crude oil for export was immediately shut down.

The power plant which supplied electricity for operations in the facility and the host community was also shut down.

The source further said that the decision was to forestall further damage to the environment.

A fisherman who spoke to our correspondent said that he and others noticed streams of crude oil near the shoreline on the day in question while coming back from the sea.

"We do not know where the oil is from but we have informed the management of Mobil Producing, the only oil company in this axis, '' Affiong Sunday-Okon said.

Sunday-Okon said that the officials of Mobil ''came and took a look at the beach and they promised to investigate the incident.''

Another fisherman, Stephen Stephen said that the oil spill had stained their fishing nets and contaminated their catch.

Some 3,000 youths from Ibeno, the host community of Mobil Producing Nigeria (MPN) gathered at the beach where they were addressed by community leaders to be calm while they held dialogue with the oil company.

When contacted, Mrs Rita Umoren, the Public Affairs Manager of MPN at the oil terminal confirmed that the oil spill reports had reached the company.

She said the management had started investigation into the claims of those affected, as well as the source of the discharge.