Barely a week into his new role as Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Ondo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (OSOPADEC), Prince Biyi Poroye has found himself navigating a political storm. An invitation from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) quickly set tongues wagging, fueling speculation about possible financial impropriety.

 

Poroye, however, is quick to dismiss the insinuations. “The EFCC invitation has nothing to do with me personally. It is tied to my office as Chairman of OSOPADEC,” he clarified. The petition in question, he explained, dates back to 2018—long before his appointment—and has already been addressed by the commission.

 

Still, the incident underscores the murky waters Poroye must wade through in steering OSOPADEC. Upon assumption of duty, he was confronted with pressing structural and financial challenges. His immediate priority, he said, has been to enforce the agency’s amended law, restructure its bureaucracy, and reposition it for effective service delivery.

 

Unlike conventional ministries bound by red tape, OSOPADEC is designed as an interventionist agency—meant to respond with speed and precision to the peculiar needs of oil-producing communities in Ondo State. That mandate, Poroye insists, cannot be compromised.

 

Since his inauguration, Poroye has moved swiftly. He has revived abandoned projects worth billions of naira on the directive of Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, embarked on familiarization tours across mandate areas, and sought collaboration with other interventionist agencies to unlock more funding.

 

His team has also embraced alternative dispute resolution mechanisms to settle litigations, a move that has reportedly saved the commission millions. In addition, bursary and scholarship payments—often a flashpoint for aggrieved students—have been prioritized, alongside grants for the elderly and vulnerable.

 

Inside the agency, Poroye has turned attention to staff training, welfare, and workplace improvements, pledging to overhaul a system that many critics say had grown lethargic. His aides describe him as determined and undistracted. “No amount of blackmail or administrative bottlenecks will derail his mission,” one said.

 

For the new OSOPADEC boss, the EFCC shadow may linger for now, but he appears eager to prove that his leadership is about performance, not scandal.