The indebtedness of Desopadec to contractors which started from the Administration of Okowa to the present Administration of Oborewori Sheriff was as a result of not adhering to the law that set up Desopadec. Desopadec was established for the rehabilitation and development of the oil producing Areas in the State . And it is mandated to receive and administer exclusively 50% of the 13% Derivation funds accruing to the Delta State Government, stated unequivocally in section 13(1) of the enabling law which set up Desopadec

According to the Punch online newspaper of August, 2025 , in the last two years of the present Administration, Delta State has received N520 bn and 50% of the 13% of the derivation funds is N260 bn which ought to be disbursed to Desopadec was not given to the commission, otherwise they would not be owing any contractor . Going by the Desopadec annual budget of N35bn which amounts to about N100 bn in three years, the N160 bn surplus from the derivation funds ought to be available to cushion any extra budgetary expenses which ought to forestall any indebtedness

Since the inception of this Administration, monthly allocations have tripled what the immediate past Administration had received. So there is no basis for not clearing contractors payments

According to the Federal Ministry of Finance statistics reveal that N120 bn was released to the oil producing States and 30% of the funds comes to Delta State as the highest oil producing State. That amounts to N36 bn , out of which N18 bn being 50% of the derivation ought to be disbursed to Desopadec in the month of April or May . It is inexplicable to owe contractors in spite of the huge allocation

After outcry of the public, Governor Sheriff Oborewori paid N8.4 bn as part payment to clear the bill and promised to complete the payment in a short while, the balance of the paltry sum of N6.6 bn is too insignificant for the Governor to release for payment and completely put an end to the suffering of the Desopadec contractors who borrowed funds from lenders to execute contracts for the commission

We would like the Governor to act fast and put an end to this embarrassing situation by promptly responding and releasing funds to the commission