BEVERLY HILLS, September 27, (THEWILL) – Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta state may have sacked the Chairman of the State Board of Internal Revenue, Hon Joel Thomas-Onowakpo, in his bid to weed out former Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan’s political structure and his grip on the state’s finances.
THEWILL reliably gathered that the Delta State Board of Internal Revenue has been a drainpipe for some politicians, though it has jerked up the state’s IGR from its abysmal state after it was restructured and rejigged for optimal performance by Onowakpo.
However, it has allegedly remained in full control of Uduaghan and the former Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Comrade Ovouzorie Macaulay, who allegedly has vested interest in the establishment.
Sources disclosed that although the dissolution of the board had jostled Onowakpo, who had been on a UK vacation, the former DBIR boss may have long foreseen Okowa’s grand plan to send all Uduaghan’s allies packing and was prepared for any eventuality.
Reliable sources said that the Revenue Board has been shaken since Okowa’s first move to block areas where both Uduaghan and Macaulay have vested interest in the management but the managers had tried not to admit that their dismissal was looming.
THEWILL learnt that Onowakpo had made several efforts to reach Okowa since his assumption of office all to no avail.
He had wanted to explain the over bloated multi-million naira consultancy job the board was running with some firms which the governor had scrapped.
The source revealed that a running contractual agreement the former SSG, allegedly had with the board running into a hundreds of millions of naira every month was affected by the governor’s new order to plug the loopholes in the system.
The development had at the time prompted the summary dismissal of its contract staff without take home perks.
Dependable sources disclosed to THEWILL that the sack of Onowakpo who reportedly, still has two years to serve at the board, came as a surprise to many going by his aggressive revenue drive which had jerked up the state IGR from about N14.4 billion annually to about N50.4billion. But the alleged undercurrent political moves by Okowa to weed out Uduaghan’s structure caught Onowakpo unawares.
One source said: “The truth is that Onowakpo is a protege of Macaulay, it was Macaulay who brought him in even when Uduaghan had wanted Paul Odhomo. The trio had an agreement since then and there is a laid down sharing formula for the sum. But everyone knows that Onowakpo tried so well in repositioning the board and that really helped the state’s IGR but if he was sacked unceremoniously even at a time he traveled out of the country, you know something was wrong.
“If you noticed, activities at the Revenue House has dwindled since Okowa came in because of paucity of funds in the state. The IGR is also going downward, the state is static so also government businesses, the annual staff training didn’t hold this year as a result of these. Oga wanted to even resign at a time but some persons prevailed on him because it will send a wrong signal.
“He was actually tired about the way things were turning, not because he has issues with the governor but because the system that brought him was at the receiving end. So I think when he got wind of the impending sack and dissolution of the board, he decided to travel alongside some of his aides to make it look as if all was well.
“Moreover, you know Delta is one peculiar state with so many bickering, hatred and bitterness. We were privy to information that some persons have painted unpleasant picture of Onowakpo to Okowa that he has amassed so much wealth for himself through the board and that the board is too strategic and viable to remain in the hands of a man who’s just an appendage of Uduaghan and Macaulay.”
The source however said that although the governor has the prerogative of duty to hire and fire, the dissolution of the board was not unconnected with his clampdown on Uduaghan’s structure, even though the immediate past governor has since denied allegations of having any running battle with his successor.
Sources said that Okowa, in his bid to prove to the ethnic groups represented on the board that he has nothing against them, had quickly reconstituted the board but instead of four members as the previous board, the governor added additional one member, fueling speculation that Okowa, just like in the recent DESOPADEC appointments, has a way of planting his slot in every appointment.
