The Achi Mbieri residents in Mbaitoli LGA of Imo have demanded accountability from their leaders for the handling of oil revenue accruing to the community.
A group of concerned community members, under the aegis of the Achi Stakeholders Forum, made the call at a news briefing in Owerri on Sunday.
In line with the Petroleum Industry Act, some part of the revenue accruing to the oil-rich community had been paid by Seplat Energy, an oil exploration company in the area.
The group alleged that the money was “inequitably disbursed” by the community’s president-general, Victor Iwuagwu, to the component villages, without due supervision by the community’s executive council.
The community’s financial secretary, Richard Durunna, said that in the community’s meeting on Saturday, he clearly denied involvement in the said disbursement.
Mr Durunna also said that Iwuagwu had “unilaterally run the affairs of the community without input from other members of the executive, including himself”.
He, however, said that after the meeting, the stakeholders and community members agreed to issue a 48-hour ultimatum to the president-general to convene an emergency meeting and explain his financial dealings to the community.
“I am completely unaware that Seplat Energy already paid us. I only got wind of it when the various villages confirmed receiving money from the PG. When I asked him about the sharing formula, he said he shared it according to the instructions by his late mother in a dream. I find this bizarrely disturbing and call for accountability so that records can be set straight,“ he said.
Another member of the group, Charles Opara, described the discovery of oil in the community as a “supposed blessing rather than a reason for chaos“.
Mr Opara, therefore, called on Iwuagwu to desist from personalising the gains from oil and give a proper account of his stewardship.
The community’s traditional prime minister, Nzeh Adolphus Nnadi, called on the Imo government to intervene and order a forensic investigation by a panel of inquiry to set matters right.
A youth leader, Chigazu Ohamadike, called for calm and a peaceful resolution of the differences.
Mr Iwuagwu could not be reached immediately for comment.
(NAN)