A member of the NNPC/MPN JV EMOIMEE Host Community Development Trust Fund representing Esit-Eket Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, Mr Dan Abia, has said that allegations of mismanagement of the Host Community Trust Fund is false, baseless and politically motivated to destroy members’ reputations .
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Abia explained that it’s impossible for anyone to carry out any form of embezzlement or even mismanage the Community Trust Fund because of the way the Petroleum Industry Act is structured.Â
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Abia stated this in his residence at Eket Local Government on Wednesday while reacting to allegations of mismanagement of funds and purchase of rickety mini buses from the Community Trust Fund as palliatives for beneficiaries.Â
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The Host Community Trust Fund headed by senator Helen Esuene covers seven local government areas of Eket, Mbo, Oron, Ikot Abasi, Mkpat Enin and Esit Eket oil producing local government areas of the state with a registered acronym of EMOIMEE in line with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA)
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Abia who is the Esit Eket representative on the Trust Fund said they decided to procure mini buses and tricycles for the people as identified in the need assessment and community development plan .Â
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But the “good gesture” turned into a subject of discussion and blackmail in the social media as critics alleged that the mini bus procured were scraps just to siphon money from the Trust Fund for self- enrichment.Â
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Abia, while citing section 241 of the PIA, said it is difficult if not impossible to commit fraud with the Trust Fund because of the provisions of the law that established the fund .Â
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“PIA is a specialized area and very novel. Every day we are learning and because we don’t want to make mistakes, the speed isn’t much because the checks mechanism is serious. In fact, the way the PIA is fashioned, it’s almost impossible to have any form of embezzlement,” he pointed out.
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“We have several layers of control; we have the Board of Trustees whose job and responsibilities are distinct from the management committee. The Management Committee also has it responsibility very distinct from that of the Advisory Committee
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“The checks don’t even stop at that level, we have the Settlor, which is like the general overseer, then you have yet again the regulator, by this Act, there is only one regular and that regulator is the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulation Commission. The Regulator regulates the settlor and the activities of the Trust.
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“You cannot go outside the host community development plan, so you are guided by the PIA document. It’s specified by law that the Settlor should carry out the needs assessment and the bottom line is that both the needs assessment and the host community development plan is done by the Settlor (Mobil) but in conjunction with the Community.
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“It’s impossible to do a project that is not contained in the document and that means you cannot invent any project. These allegations are politically motivated and coming from people who are yet to benefit.” Â
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He disclosed that since inauguration in August, 2024, the Esit Eket Trust Fund has only done two projects— the scholarship grant to students and purchase of 95 mini buses and 95 motorcycles to communities in Esit Eket local government area of Akwa Ibom State.
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Reacting to allegations of rickety buses as palliatives, Abia said “the prices were not determined by me or any of us; it was determined by the procurement team and it was uniform.”Â
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“The price in Esit-Eket is the same as the price in Eket and any other place, these jobs were advertised and usually with Mobil, the lowest bidder gets the job and it was awarded at N3. 9m for each bus,” he said.Â
