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Some Chiefs in the Northern Region have strongly reprimanded the ruling government for failing to use Ghana�s oil revenues to transform the economy and improve on the general well-being of the ordinary Ghanaian. According to the chiefs, there are many Ghanaians in the rural and urban centres who are not enthused about the way and manner Ghana�s oil revenue is being managed by the ruling government. They asserted that the current political leaders entrusted with the responsibility of managing the oil revenue for the accelerated development of the nation, are losing focus. Speaking at the Northern Region version of the Public Meeting on the Management of the Petroleum Revenues, organised by the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) in Tamale, the chiefs and other participants charged the government to invest the oil revenue in productive ventures that would inure to the benefit of every Ghanaian, irrespective of their geographical location. Citing Libya as one of the great countries that has excellently used its oil revenues to transform its economy, the Northern chiefs, who were representing the Northern Regional House of Chiefs, called on the government to come out with a National Development Plan, backed by law to guide the spending of the country oil revenue to ensure accelerated and consistent national development. The chiefs, including the Paramount Chief of the Buipe Traditional Area, Buipewura Mahama Jinapor II (Chairman of the occasion), Paramount Chief of Bindi, Pi Brana Banzua II, and Kpan-Naa Abukari Andani, Chief of Kpano near Nanton, advised the government to invest the oil money in agriculture, education, health, road infrastructure, and supporting local industries to grow. This, they observed, was the only way every Ghanaian could directly or indirectly benefit or feel the benefits of the oil revenue. Other participants including members of the civil society organisations (CBOs), non-governmental organisations (NGOs), women groups, persons living with disabilities, political parties, and the media also raised similar concerns about how the oil revenue was being managed by the government. Issahaku Safiano, Secretary of the Sagnarigu District Association of the Persons With Disabilities, complained bitterly about how PWDs had been neglected by the various district assemblies, and the ruling government, due to the non-payment of their share of the District Assembly Common Fund. According to him, there seemed to be no conscious plan by the government to build the capacity of its members and make them useful in their societies. He appealed to President John Dramani Mahama to release the Assembly Common Fund in time, and also make a special package out of the oil revenue to support PWDs. The Chairman of the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC), Major Daniel Sowah Ablorh-Quarcoo (retired), indicated that the committee had received almost the same expression of sentiments in all the regions they had visited, and that the most expressed views were all centered around the development of a National Development Policy to ensure proper management of the oil revenue. Presenting the PIACs Report on the management of the country�s petroleum revenue for the mid-year, from January to June, 2013, he said that the total crude oil produced from January to June 2013 was 18,955,117 barrels, out of which the government, through the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, lifted 3,982,956 barrels, representing 21.2 per cent. Major Retired Ablorh-Quarcoo insisted that the high expectations of the citizenry about the country�s oil industry seemed to be out, since there was absolutely nothing to show that oil was being produced in the country. He observed that spending the oil revenue without a comprehensive national policy could spell doom for the country, as the oil reserves would be depleted, but there would be nothing in terms of concrete projects to show for it. The Chairman urged the government to take PIACs recommendations, which represent the collective views of Ghanaians, seriously, and implement them to improve the management of the country�s oil revenue.