The Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has said that the neglect and untold hardship being faced by the oil-producing areas in the country were as a result of misappropriation, misuse and diversion of funds meant for the development of the region by the various state governments and interventionist agencies over the years.
The minister said this when some lawmakers from the Imo State House of Assembly visited him in Abuja recently, according to a statement.
Explaining that if the funds had been judiciously used, there would have been “meaningful” development across all the oil-producing states, Kachikwu also called on militants in the Niger Delta region to embrace dialogue and stop destroying oil and gas installations.
While commending the youths of the two oil-producing local government areas in Imo State, Ohaji-Egbema and Oguta, for their efforts at restoring peace in the areas, he said no region in the country could develop in an atmosphere bedevilled by “wanton” destruction of critical national infrastructure and economic assets, including hi-tech oil and gas installations.
“No man destroys his economic potential and still prospers optimally,” he said.
The leader of the delegation, Mr. Ezediaro Uzoma, a member representing Oguta constituency in the Imo State House of Assembly, who is also the Chairman, House Committee on Petroleum, Imo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, said the essence of the visit was to express support for the minister.
He said what led to the present economic challenges the nation is facing is embezzlement and mismanagement of scarce resources from the oil and gas sector, asking the minister to engender a new regime of probity, transparency and accountability in the country’s oil and gas sector.
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