Looters: Release names of culprits in government, Okowa urges FG

Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta has urged the Federal Government to include names of present and previous political office-holders, irrespective of political parties, who looted public funds, in the looters’ list.

Okowa made the call at the inauguration of Episcopal House, Chapel of Resurrection Conference Hall and other residential blocks of the Anglican Communion, on Friday in Abuja.

He said that the list of looters should not be limited to some people and should be done with honesty.

“In whatever the government is doing, they should ensure that list of every person who has looted in governance is released. It should not be limited to any particular party.

“It should not be held in such a manner that Nigerians will begin to think and have doubts, and I believe that in everything we do, we must be honest,’’ he said.

Okowa said that insecurity in terms of Boko Haram and herdsmen-farmers’ clashes had impacted negatively on the economy of the nation.

He, however, called on Nigerians to work closely with security operatives so as to achieve positive result in securing the communities and the people.

According to him, I believe that a lot has been done by the government at the states and local government levels in terms of security.

“Until we begin to engage more of our youths to ease the level of unemployment, it may become very difficult for us to tackle the issues of insecurity in the country.

“For the herdsmen-farmers clashes, a committee has just been inaugurated and there is a lot for us to talk about.

“We must have a policy direction that will bring hope to the farmers and to also ensure some level of partnership in future.

“There is no direct policy as it stands now and it is definitely going to be very problematic because we are calling on Nigerians to embrace agriculture.

“If the farmers are not able to defend their produce, then obviously, there will be a major problem. I hope that very soon we will find a light of hope for going forward.’’