Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) has called on the presidency to sack the entire management of Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP), saying replacing only the project coordinator (PC) is as good as putting a new wine in an old bottle.
The association also stated that since the new coordinator is not of Ogoni origin, what is more important is to get establishment to be more functional and useful to the communities, as its current state is a scandal, an epitome of corruption and financial recklessness.
MOSOP President, Fegalo Nsuke,in a statement made available to The Guardian indicated that the minor reorganisation was a welcome development and in line with their calls for reforms. He called on Mr. President to take urgent actions to sanitise HYPREP for productivity.
Nsuke said,”The Project Coordinator does not act alone. In our view, we expect the sack of the entire governing structures to instill some more responsibility in its management, and to rid of massive corruption and financial scandals in the agency.”
On the replacement of Prof. Nenninbarini Zabbey as project coordinator, he maintained, MOSOP leaders backed the appointment of a non-Ogoni, Dr. Olufemi Adekanmbi, for the position for the first time saying, for eight years our people have occupied the office with no tangible results.
“In the past years, HYPREP has only turned into a scandal of corruption. What we want now is results and if we get it from a non-Ogoni, that is fine. It wouldn’t really matter to us if we can see a more transparent leadership of agency under Dr Adekanmbi,” he said.
He therefore argued that “new coordinator and the cleanup project is not a problem to us if he fixes the issues and does not see the appointment as an opportunity to make money. Though he is not an Ogoni, it wouldn’t matter to us if he does his job the way he should.”
MOSOP President wants Mr. President to order the release of the audit report on the agency conducted during the past administration, adding that the first signs of the cover up was the exclusion of over 200 oil spill sites from the UNEP study which was deliberately intended to downplay the gravity of Shell’s pollution in Ogoni.
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