Secret Reporters No place to hide
Secret Reporters
It is evident that the majorities of politicians in Nigeria are stone hearted and are poised on bringing the economy to its knees by making deceitful promises and awarding of contracts without any plans of funding or execution.
A typical example is the Government of Delta State led by Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa who investigation revealed has signed limitless number of Memorandum of Understandings (MoU), from power generation to agriculture and others with various indigenous and foreign companies as beneficiaries just to gain the applause of the people without any tangible proof of execution.
Investigation by SecretsReporters revealed that Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa has signed over twenty (20) MoU`s since his first day in office without seeing any of them through. The Okowa led administration after its swearing-in introduced the “S.M.A.R.T” agenda; its full implementation would have transformed the state tremendously. However, the supposed “S.M.A.R.T” governor has been signing unending MoU`s beginning from the 500 megawatt power generation plant signed on April 6th, 2016 to a multi-billion naira agricultural industrial park signed on February 14th, 2018 without accomplishing any.
Further investigations carried out by our reporter on the proposed 500 megawatt power generating plant signed with Alpha Energy and Electric Inc. also revealed that apart from the perimeter fencing, about three small buildings and a gantry, there was nothing more to show for it after about N19billion has been gulped by the project. Other findings also shows that none of these numerous MoU`s has been partially or fully implemented as there are no evidence of work done in the state.
It was also gathered that the DTSG signed a MoU with North China Construction Company on infrastructural development 2016 and another in 2017 to the tune of $30 million but none has been executed till date apart from the N13.6 billion secretariat which is currently shrouded in secrecy, marred with fraud and allegedly awarded to the sister, Ivana Shenton, using Osakwe Osadebey as a front for North China Construction Company. It was also alleged that traces of fraud surrounds North China Construction Company as it is not a China based company but owned by a Nigerian banker, an allegation that was blatantly refuted by the state government.
Despite the memorandum of understanding signed by the state government on Sept 5, 2017 to ensure that over 200 entities around Ozoro in Isoko Local Government areas of the State gets electricity boost, the area has remained in perpetual darkness as the project has only remained on paper.
With more than twenty (20) MoU`s signed by the DTSG, critics of the government believes that Mr Okowa and his cabinet put up a charade targeted at fooling Deltans that he is transforming the state into an industrial business hub, as it is glaring that Deltans are yet to benefit or experience better living standards with little or no evidence to show that any of these MoU`s has been implemented.
Here are MoUs signed by the Government without implementation.
| S/N | Memorandum of Understanding | DATE |
| 1. | Delta State Government signed an MoU with Alpha Energy and Electric Inc., an American company, for the generation of 500 Megawatts [MWA] of electricity through public- private partnership. The MoU was signed on behalf of the state government by the Secretary to State Government Barr. Ovie Agas witnessed by Governor Okowa along with other members of the State Executive Council. | April 7,2017 |
| 2. | Delta State Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the management of Fazsad Construction Company Limited, for the re-construction and upgrade of the State Ultra-Modern Trade Fair and Exhibition Centre located at Osubi in Okpe Local Government Area of the state. Speaking during the MoU signing ceremony on behalf of the state governor, Secretary to Delta State Government, Mr Ovie Agas, said that the trade fair project is the brain child of the Ifeanyi Okowa administration. | |
| 3. | EFFORTS at ensuring that over 200 commercial entities around Ozoro in Isoko Local Government areas of Delta State benefit from power supply got a boost as Benin Electricity Distribution Plc (BEDC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Thames Energy Limited and the Delta State Government on the construction of 20 megawatts, MW power plant in the area. | September 5, 2017 |
| 4. | Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Kems Infrastructure Solution Limited and Huawei Technologies Company Nigeria for the development of smart cities in the state. Signing the MoU at the Government House, Asaba, Governor Okowa stated that the MoU was in his bid to ensure speedy development of Delta State. | 15 December, 2016 |
| 5. | Delta State signed an MoU on Infrastructural Development with North China Construction Company, to boost infrastructural drive in the state, the Delta State Governor; Ifeanyi Okowa expressed his administration’s willingness to partner with credible investors for the development of the state. The MoU, which was signed by Barr. Festus Agas, Secretary to the State Government and Olorogun David Edevbie, Commissioner For Finance on behalf of the state government and Mr. Wu Guo Qi on behalf of the Chinese Company, was witnessed by Governor Okowa and some members of the State Executive Council. | 18 April, 2016 |
| 6. | Delta state government signed a memorandum of Understanding with Foundation for Partnership Initiative in the Niger Delta (PIND) in order to strengthen the economic development and poverty reduction in the state. | 5 April, 2017 |
| 7. | The Delta Government signed a 20 million dollars Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Norsworthy Investment Limited, a private firm, for the cultivation of 3,000 acres of oil palm and processing plant project. The MoU for the project is sited at Akwukwu-Igbo community, Oshimili North Local Government Area of the state, was signed in Asaba by the Secretary to the State Government, Mr Festus Agas. | 22 June, 2017 |
| 8. | The Delta State Government in Asaba signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Interswitch Group for a health financing management platform and online electronic payment system. The MoU was signed by the Secretary to the state government, Hon.Festus Ovie Agas. The agreement also included e-CLAT HealthCare for provision of identity and healthcare management solutions in primary and secondary health care centres in the state. | 18 July, 2017 |
| 9. | The Delta State Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with The Challenge Initiative (TCI), a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), led by the Gates Institute at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health that would enable it access over N200 million to address selected family planning needs of the State without being limited by funding ceilings. The former Delta State Commissioner for Health Dr. Nicholas Azinge made this known during the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding Ceremony on behalf of the state government in Abeokuta, Ogun State. | 15 January, 2018 |
| 10. | Delta State Government signed MOU with Agri All Africa.
The Chief Job Creation Officer, Prof. Eric Eboh, signed on behalf of the State Government while the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr Dirk Hanekom, signed on behalf of Agri All Africa LTD, a South African company engaged in commercial farming. Signing the MOU in his office, the Chief Job Creation Officer, Prof. Eric Eboh, reaffirmed that agricultural growth and development is one of the cardinal agenda of the Governor Ifeanyi OKowa-led administration under the overall framework of the SMART Agenda as articulated in the Medium Term Development Plan of the State Government. |
24 October, 2016 |
| 11. | The Delta State Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the LNG Technology Limited of South Africa for an enhanced gas production in the state. At a ceremony witnessed by the South Africa High Commissioner to Nigeria, His Excellency, Lulu Louis Mnguni, the Secretary to State Government (SSG), Hon. Festus Ovie Agas, said that the state was endowed with abundant gas resources and expressed happiness for the partnership. | 20 March, 2018 |
| 12. | Delta State Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with B2B Export of Russia for the establishment of a refinery in the state. The Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Hon. Festus Agas, while signing the MoU on behalf of the state government stated that the Delta State Government was committed to attracting investment to the state. | 27 November, 2017 |
| 13. | DELTA State government, signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a foundation, Partnership Initiative in the Niger Delta, PIND, as part of effort towards exploring more viable to manage the state Micro Credit scheme. Signing the MoU on behalf the state government, Executive Secretary, Delta State Micro Small and Medium Enterprise, Mrs Shimite Bello, said over 100,000 applications for credit loans have been received by the agency and processed. | 9 April, 2017 |
| 14. | Sapele Industrial City (SI-CITY) Project MOU Signed.
The MOU was signed by the Host Communities of Sapele local government area, at the Palace of the Orodje of Okpe Kingdom, Orerokpe marking a major milestone towards kick-starting the project. The Project Development Director, Olorogun Paul Ejakpomewhe Abu who commended the host communities for signing the MOU, stated that the Sapele Industrial City is a socio-economic changing project with a potential to attract investments in excess of 50 billion USD to the Delta State economy within the next 20 years and create more than a million direct and indirect jobs within same period for the people of Nigeria. |
17 January, 2018 |
| 15. | Delta State government signed a Memorandum of Understanding with development partners to kick- start the construction of the Delta Commercial City project in the state capital. Governor Ifeanyi Okowa who witnessed the signing by the SSG Mr Festus Agas on behalf of the state reiterate his administration’s determination to boost infrastructural development in the state. He said the Delta Commercial City will not only provide employment for the people of the state but also bring development to the state. | 27 June, 2016 |
| 16. | The Delta State government, DSTG, signed a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, with the North China Construction Company in the State Capital, Asaba, a deal which could potentially see over $30 million poured into the development of a new city around the banks of River Niger. The MoU which was signed by Barr. Festus Agas, Secretary to the State Government and Olorogun David Edevbie, Commissioner For Finance on behalf of the state government and Mr. Wu Guo Qi on behalf of the Chinese Company, was witnessed by Governor Okowa and some members of the State Executive Council. | 16 April, 2016 |
| 17.
|
DELTA state Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), with ANIWURA International project limited to create a platform for interaction between government and potential investors both locally and internationally. Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Festus Ovie Agas, who signed on behalf of the state government expressed optimism that the MoU will be mutually beneficial to both parties. |
27 February, 2017 |
| 18. | Delta State Government and a South African company, Sotheo Engineering, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to build a multi-million naira trailer park at Umunede, a transit community. The park, when completed, is expected to reduce travellers’ nightmare at Umunede axis of the Benin-Asaba Expressway, Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa said at the signing ceremony in Asaba. Okowa said that the park, christened Umunede Rest Park, would accommodate trailers and trucks which park indiscriminately along the road at Umunede and ensure free flow of traffic on the road. | 27 January, 2017 |
| 19. | Delta state government has taken a bold step towards boosting electricity supply by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a Chinese Company, Yutal Li Nigeria Limited for the provision of a 100 megawatts solar powered electricity generating plant. The MoU was signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Hon. Ovie Agas on behalf of the Delta State` government and the Managing Director of Yutai Li Nigeria Limited, Mr Liping Ding. | February 2, 2016 |
| 20. | Delta Government on Wednesday signed a joint venture agreement with two companies for the establishment of a multi-billion naira agricultural industrial park in the state. The state government entered into the agreement with Mirai Technology Limited and Norsworthy Investment Limited to harness the agriculture value chain in the state. Governor Ifeanyi Okowa said that the establishment of the agricultural industrial park was in line with government’s determination to develop agriculture in the state. | February 14, 2018
|
