In 2017, the Federal Government allocated fifty million naira as part of the zonal intervention project expenditure for the supply of one hundred and twenty (120) motorcycles in Delta North Senatorial District of Delta State, according to Tracka NG- a public project monitoring system developed by BudgIT.
However, at the time of execution, the man representing the district at the Senate, Peter Nwaoboshi, distributed refrigerator worth fifty thousand naira (50,000) to the people as against four hundred and sixteen thousand naira (416,000) that should have been the value of the budgeted motorcycle.
Similarly, in 2018, two hundred and twenty-two million, two hundred and twenty-two thousand naira was released to Delta North Senatorial district under the supervision of Mr. Peter Nwaoboshi to supply transformers across the district in the Federal Government Rural Electrification drive. Not a single transformer was supplied to the region.
So, when the Federal High Court in Abuja on July 05, 2019 decided to grant an interim forfeiture order on 22 bank accounts and 14 properties linked to Nwaoboshi, it didn’t come as a surprise for many who have raised questions on his ability to independently and legitimately acquire these assets.
From serving as a Commissioner for Agriculture and Special Duties under the James Ibori-led administration in 2006 to being appointed as the State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2008, Mr. Peter Nwaoboshi does not have any traceable record of business or enterprise that could have yielded enough profits to acquire the linked properties.
In fact, the cumulative figure of his legitimate salaries and allowances from his entire sojourn in public offices would not be enough to purchase the N805million Guinea House in Apapa area of Lagos linked to him and which he is on trial for by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
According to the late sage of the old western region and one of Nigeria’s founding fathers, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, “Power is a thing held in trust, to treat it otherwise is fraud”. Mr. Peter Nwaoboshi treated the gesture and trust of his district with disgust and disdain.
For a district bedeviled by abject poverty, unimaginable level of hardship and degrading standard of living, the least a representative can do to bring succor to their lives is to give to them, the little loaf of bread offered by the Federal Government and not take away such to build mansions and fund a stupendous life of luxury while his people live in agony.
For the years Mr. Peter Nwaoboshi spent at the National Assembly and even at the various offices he held at the state level, he has brought no significant impact to the people whose mandate that has continue to fund his lavishing life, maintain his fleet of cars and mount several mansions across the country.
That this man continues to represent his district at the Senate is a continuous nightmare to many on whose sweat he has built an empire. Will the law save the people of Delta North from this locust? Only time will tell.
Samson Ajibade, a public affairs analyst wrote in from Abuja. He can be reached via samson.ajibade01@gmail.com
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