The Delta State Oil Producing Area Development Commission (DESOPADEC) has applauded Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo for the setting up Kogi State Oil Producing Area Development Commission (KOSOPADEC) on sound footing, capable of fast tracking development in the state.
Chairman of DESOPADEC, Barrister John Obukowho Nanni gave the commendation when the KOSOPADEC delegation paid a four-day working visit to the commission in Warri, Delta state.
He assured that the board and management of the Delta Commission will partner and collaborate with KOSOPADEC to ensure its rapid maturity.
The Chairman of DESOPADEC disclosed that his commission is pleased to collaborate and synergize with Kogi Commission to help build human capacity, share knowledge and expertise to unlock potentials inherent in the two commissions.
Barrister Obukowho said Kogi state, being the latest to be recognized as oil producing state in the country and the timely inauguration of the commission, needed to be nurtured and assisted to succeed in its core mandate.
He assured the government and people of Kogi state that the door is wide open for cooperation, while stressing the importance of the visit, which he said will enrich the two commissions.
He commended Gov. Ododo for his unwavering commitment for the seamless take off of the Commission, noting that with the calibre of members of the board and management, it will soon outgrow her peers.
In an interactive session, he disclosed that no two commissions have the same enabling laws as the state promulgate the law to suit its peculiarity of solving the needs of the people.
He added that in the case of DESOPADEC, the board is made of 13 eminent personalities, including the Chairman and Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, adding that for effective delivery of her mandate, four Executive Directors were appointed to help the Managing Director in the day to day running of the commission.
He listed the Executive Directors of Finance and Administration, Projects, Social Services, Planning, Research and Statistics PRS, and Representatives of the ethnic nationalities of the oil producing local government areas of the state.
Explaining further, he said out of the 25 local governments councils in the state, 21 are oil producing and with different ethnic nationalities in the LGAs, whose representatives on the board was based on ethnic nationalities rather than host councils.
According to him, the major ethnic nationalities in the oil producing local governments are; Ishekiri, Urhobo, Ijaw; Isoko Ndokwa and Nkars which is the new entry to the fold.
He disclosed that the position of Chairman and MD/CEO is rotated among the councils, as the two positions cannot be concentrated in one local government council.
According to him, “the two positions are being alternated among the ethnic nationalities in 21 oil producing LGAs . For each of the ethnic nationalities, the ED will come from one. There is no ethnic nationality that can produce two EDs. But all ethnic nationalities must produce members representing them on the board. We have six ethnic nationalities making up the DESOPADEC. And for everything that is being done here is done by a quantum of production.
“The higher you produce, for any amount of money that comes, it is shared in accordance with the quantum of production. Ishekiri is spread in three local governments. but by quantum of production, they have higher quantum, which is 29% while Urhobo with 10 local governments, gets less because Urhobo is 21 percent. Ijaw is 27%, Ndokwa 14%, Ikah, from line charge. So it is immaterial whether the population is small it is what you produce that you partake from. So for anything that we are going to do is in accordance with the budgetary system and in accordance with the quantum of production with bottom-up approach.
“Before you can do anything in the budget, that is, populate the budget, all you need to do is to go home, call the town committee and seek their opinion on their needs. We are like trustees of the production of the natural resources from the area.
“We are their servants. So we go back to ask them, we are doing budget of this year. In your priority, what do you want? They name the things they want, based on Demand and Supply and on the volume of money available for such projects.
“For instance, if we say Isoko today has 2 billion and their wants is 5 billion, we will prioritize within those their wants, what can 2 billion go for now within the 2 billion in that budgetary year, We then prioritize what that 2 billion can do for them will be put first in the budget.
Other things will come later because the budget is yearly. We don’t impose any project on the people, it is what they want based on the quantum of their money in the budget,” he clarified.
He added that each of the directorate, there is an Executive Director who writes the memo for approval to the MD while MD, in turn, will inform the chairman and will call a board meeting where the board will approve whether their thinking is right or wrong by way of a resolution which is the highest decision of the Board.
He added that the operation of the commission is guided by the enabling law and urged for strict observance of their law.
The Chairman stated further that the recruitment of staff is from oil producing communities to ethnic nationalities whose share is to be distributed by the them , ditto to all other largesse from the commission.
He charged the visitors to adhere strictly to the extant law, and uphold the financial regulations, saying , all demands must be communicated to the Governor in form of memos for approval, stressing that anything above #15M must have the governor’s approval, as the Commission is not distinct from the state.
Earlier, the Chairman of KOSOPADEC, Alhaji Suleiman Ndalayi Abdullahi, thanked the members of DESOPADEC for the opportunity granted them to peer review their activities which will ultimately enrich the board for seamless growth and development.
The chairman disclosed that KOSOPADEC which took off on 1 August, 2025 cannot claim to know everything, hence, the visit to understudy the older ones to enhance their performance.
He commended the Chairman, Managing Director, Festus Ochonogor and management team for the warm reception and promise to take home the lessons learnt for the benefits of the commissions even as mutual cooperation and synergy remain uppermost in him.
In a remark, the Managing Director of KOSOPADEC, James Omonu Jackson acknowledged the commitment of Gov. Usman Ododo to the formation and growth of the commission, and pledged to ensure that the mission and vision are religiously followed.
He equally thank the Delta State Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, for giving approval for the visit, stressing that the bond that existed between the two states would be sustained.
Meanwhile, the Managing Director of DESOPADEC, Festus Ochonogor, thanked the delegation for the visit and urged to keep the relationship aglow with regular interfacing to build strong working partnership.
Highlights of the event was splitting into an executive session with department heads for in-depth study of the departments.
Those on the entourage are Secretary to the Commission, all the Executive Directors, Director of Finance and Accounts, Director of Administration, Representatives of Ministry of Justice, Finance, Technical Advisor and Head of Media.
