The Niger Delta Civil Society Forum (NCSF) has called for an immediate forensic investigation into the management of the 50 percent share of the 13 Percent Oil Derivation Fund allocated to the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC), following the recent one-year tenure extension granted to the Commission’s Governing Board.
The civil society group described the elongation of the board’s tenure, approved on May 26, 2026, as controversial and capable of eroding public confidence in the transparency and accountability of the commission charged with developing oil-producing communities in Delta State.
In a strongly worded statement signed by the Coordinator of the Forum, Comrade Ezekiel Kagbala, and made available to journalists in Warri on Thursday, the group argued that the Delta State Government should have compelled the DESOPADEC board to publicly account for its stewardship before granting any extension.
The Forum maintained that genuine performance by the board would have translated into visible infrastructural and socio-economic transformation across mandate communities, adding that the absence of such tangible development raises concerns over the utilisation of resources allocated to the commission.
According to the statement, if the board had performed satisfactorily, communities within the oil-producing areas of the state would have witnessed measurable improvements in roads, healthcare, education, potable water supply, electricity and other critical infrastructure.
The NCSF further alleged that the tenure extension may have been designed to shield the current leadership of the commission from scrutiny, public accountability and possible investigation over the management of funds accruing from the 13 Percent Oil Derivation allocation.
“While the state government claimed that the tenure extension was to ensure leadership continuity under the chairmanship of Olorogun John Nani until May 29, 2027, the people of the Niger Delta deserve to ask fundamental questions: What exactly has this board achieved? Where are the transformative projects across the oil-producing communities that justify continuity?” the statement queried.
The group lamented what it described as the persistent lack of impactful developmental projects in host communities despite the enormous financial resources reportedly channelled into DESOPADEC over the years.
“It is difficult to justify this continuity when the commission has failed to convincingly demonstrate seamless delivery of meaningful development projects to mandate communities across Delta State,” the statement added.
The Forum accused DESOPADEC of operating over the years as “a conduit pipe through which the 13 Percent Derivation Fund is continuously mismanaged and left largely unaccounted for.”
The group recalled that DESOPADEC was established under the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission Law of 2007 during the administration of former Governor James Ibori, with the statutory responsibility of addressing underdevelopment, environmental degradation and infrastructural deficits in oil-bearing communities.
Citing Section 13(1) of the DESOPADEC Law, 2007, the Forum noted that the Commission is legally empowered to receive and exclusively administer 50 percent of the 13 Percent Oil Derivation Fund accruing to the Delta State Government.
According to the statement, the law establishing DESOPADEC was intended to drive sustainable development in oil-producing communities and not to transform the agency into what it described as “a political compensation institution for loyalists and cronies.”
The NCSF expressed concern over the continued poverty, neglect and infrastructural decay visible in many oil-producing communities despite billions of naira reportedly allocated to the commission over the years.
Consequently, the Forum called on the Federal Government, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), the National Assembly Public Accounts Committees, as well as other anti-corruption and oversight agencies, to immediately commence a comprehensive probe into the management and utilisation of the derivation funds domiciled in DESOPADEC.
The civil society group insisted that what the people of the Niger Delta urgently require is not tenure elongation for public office holders, but transparency, accountability, prudent management of public resources and visible development capable of improving the living standards of oil-producing communities across Delta State