Rep Member, Oboro Accuses Omo-Agege Of ‘Stealing’ Her Intellectual Property In Recently Sign Petroleum Varsity Bill

A Nigerian Senator, Ovie Omo-Agege has been accused by the member representing Uvwie/Okpe/Sapele constituency in the Federal House of Representatives, Hon Evelyn Omavovwan Oboro, of stealing her intellectual property in the Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun (FUPRE) bill, recently signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari.

BigPen Online learnt that Oboro allegedly accused Omo-Agege of claiming credit over the bill which she said was her brain child and work at the House of Representatives where it was first passed.

Oboro spoke at the weekend while receiving delegation of management, staff and students of Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun (FUPRE), who were on a thank you visit for her efforts in ensuring that the FUPRE bill was signed into law.

During the visit, she told her visitor she being moved to tell the world the truth about the FUPRE bill because, according to her, “some political dramatists” want to claim her glory.

“This bill we are talking about today is my brain child  and a product of my endeavor. It is my intellectual property because I actually engaged the services of consultants to look into it and they drafted this bill which I presented in 2014 and the bill was sent to the Senate for concurrence.”

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According to her, she was shock when Sen. Omo-Agege lay claim to the bill, trying to convince members of the public that he was the initiator of the bill.

She maintained that she was the initiator of the bill in 2014 at the hallowed chamber.

Oboro also noted that she has written to the leadership of the Senate of an attempt by a senator to inherit her intellectual property, which she struggled for, adding that at the appropiate time she would address the issue properly.

“For now, I do not want to join issues, but it is very important for me to let you know that there are a lot of political dramatists in the state. I am not a political dramatist, I am a realist and what I cannot do,  I will not tell you that I will do it.  I have never been known to crafting and assuming ownership of what belongs to someone else.

“Ordinarily when a bill is passed, there will be no need for a public hearing and visitation because the bill has already been passed. When a bill has been passed, the next thing is for it to be sent to the president for assent.

“So when you see a drama about a bill that has been passed by the House of Representatives, sent to the Senate for concurrence and somebody came up with the same bill and introduced it as a fresh bill that he is sponsoring, it sounds funny. And then in an attempt to suppress me, because I am a woman, and to kill my voice and steal the glory that God has given to me, you move traditional rulers, for no reason, from Delta State to Abuja and stage-manage a public hearing which was not necessary in the first place,” Hon Oboro noted.

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Told her visitors how the bill came into being, Hon Oboro said: “I started the FUPRE bill in the Federal House of Representative in 2014 and the bill was passed then, but it was not signed by former President Goodluck Jonathan for obvious political reasons.”

“But as God will have it and by his grace, I was re-elected by my constituents to go back to the House of Representatives to continue my good work. I was already preparing to re-introduce the bill when the university authority paid me a visit in my office. And I told them that they needed not come to me because they have chosen me to represent them and I must do my job,”.

Earlier, Dean Students Affairs, FUPRE, Goodwill Ofualagba, who spoke on behalf of the management, staff and students, showered encomiums on Oboro  for her fighting spirit she  put in ensuring that the FUPRE bill was passed into law by the president, adding that since the passage of the bill, the morale of the staff of the university has risen.

Ofualagba also appealed to the federal lawmaker to do all within her power and ensure that the FUPRE law was implemented, noting that they were waiting for the day that the law will be implemented to its fullness.

BigPen Online efforts to reach Sen. Omo-Agege on phone proved abortive as he didn’t reply text message sent to his mobile phone on the matter as at press time.

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