The Nation Newspaper

Tag: NOSDRA

  • Oil spill: Minister challenges NOSDRA to sanction erring companies

    Minister of State for Environment Ibrahim Jibril has directed the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) to sanction oil companies polluting the environment and flouting the environmental law.

    The Minister made the call while inaugurating boards of the six agencies and parastatals under supervision of the ministry at the weekend in Abuja.

    The agencies include National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA), National Park Service (NPS), NOSDRA, Forestry Research Institute on Nigeria (FRIN), National Agency for Great Green Wall (NAGGW) and National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA).

    Jibril, who emphasised needs to protect the ecosystem for better healthy living and future generation, directed the newly inaugurated board members to partner with management of the agency to achieve mandates of the respective agencies.

    He advised the board members to stay away from any form of malpractice that could jeopardise national interest and adhere by the rules guiding their appointments.

    While inaugurating the boards, the Minister canvassed their support in implementing various treaties signed by the country at international conferences.

    On the Nigerian National Parks, he lamented that the Parks are not well protected, necessitating the creation of the National Park Service, adding that it was important for the board to support the vision.

    He lamented while Nigerians make pepper soup with its wildlife such as Gorillas, a single gorilla in Rwanda could attract $1m annually through tourism.

    He said the FRIN has the mandate among others to increase the nation’s forest cover.

    However, the Minister lamented that the country has only 25 per cent of forest coverage, which he said was lower compared to what is obtainable in terms of international standards.

    Ben Owaobase was appointed board Chairman of the NPS with Joko Pelumi, Surveyor General of the Federation, NESREA, Nigeria Conservation are board members.

    NOSDRA has Senator Ayo Akinyedure as chairman while representatives from Ministry of Communication, Aviation, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), and National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) were among the board members.

    Barrister Iyiola Oladokun was appointed NESREA Board Chairman with Peter Ako, Mr. Aleshinloye, Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and Manufacturing Association of Nigeria (MAN) as members.

    NAGGW has Barrister Gbadegesin Adedeji as chairman while Tosin Ayoade, Ayuba Bello, Mrs. Salome Jalome, Abubakar Gada, FMENV, Federal Ministry of Sport, Federal Ministry of Water Resources, FMARD, Permanent Secretary, Ecological Firm and Director General NAGGW are members.

  • NOSDRA seeks field workers’ protection

    NOSDRA seeks field workers’ protection

    The National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) yesterday urged the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC)  to provide security cover for the agency’s field workers.

    Its Director –General, Peter Idabor who spoke during a visit to the Commandant General of NSCDC, Abdullahi Gana Muhammadu, said the agency finds it difficult to carryout field work because of the presence of criminals.

    Idabor, therefore called for synergy between the two agencies as an effective means of tackling the challenges of pipeline vandalism and artisanal refineries.

    He said: “We are not an armed organisation so we are just like civilians. It becomes very difficult for us when we are out in the field we are confronted by armed individuals who are stealing the nation’s oil well and in most cases we withdraw our staff.

  • Oil spill contracts: NOSDRA to stop unaccredited consultants

    • Says the agency is aware of nasty practices by some consultants

    The National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) has warned that it would no longer be business as usual to allow unwholesome practices by some consultants not accredited by the agency to continue getting job contracts from oil companies.

    NOSDRA Director-General, Sir Peter Idabor disclosed this at the two-day workshop/retreat for NOSDRA accredited and prospective environmental consultants held at Atlantic Hall, Hotel Presidential, Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital.

    The theme of the event is, “Ensuring Best Practices in Environmental Consultancy Service in Oil Spill Management in Nigeria. Stakeholders in oil and gas environment were fully represented.

    Idabor, who was represented at the retreat by NOSDRA Director of Finance and Administration, Mrs. Uche Okwechime, said the objective of the retreat is to ensure consultants’ full adherence to procedures, regulation and guidelines governing oil spill management.

    She said the Director-General has put a stop to all unaccredited consultants in getting contracts from the oil companies to ensure that those, who are fully accredited by NOSDRA get the contact job from oil companies.

    She warned the operators of oil companies to ensure full compliance of the order and patronise only qualified and capable NOSDRA accredited consultants.

    On the issue of unclean oil spill in the Niger Delta, Mrs. Okwechime said the Federal government is addressing the issue of incessant oil spill, pollution and environmental degradation in the Niger Delta region, particularly in Ogoni land.

    She noted that the retreat was part of the efforts towards ensuring best practices relating to oil spill management, clean-up, rehabilitation, protection and remediation of the environment.

    “I am firmly convinced that this workshop and retreat will further assist the technocrats in the efficient and effective management of oil spill response. It will also lead to sustainable environment in Nigeria that is why unwholesome practice must stop.

    “We must say no to oil spill because NOSDRA vision is to create, nurture and sustain a zero tolerance for oil spill incident in the Nigeria environment. Of course, our mission is to restore and preserve our environment by ensuring best oil field, storage and transmission practices,” she noted.

  • Oil spill contracts: NOSDRA to stop unaccredited consultants

    Oil spill contracts: NOSDRA to stop unaccredited consultants

    The National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) yesterday warned that it would no longer be business as usual for some consultants who are not accredited by the agency.

    NOSDRA Director-General, Sir Peter Idabor, who disclosed this at a two-day workshop/retreat for NOSDRA accredited and prospective environmental consultants held at Atlantic Hall, Hotel Presidential, Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital, said that such consultants would no longer continue to get contracts from oil companies..

    Stakeholders in oil and gas environment were fully represented at the retreat whose theme was Ensuring Best Practices in Environmental Consultancy Service in Oil Spill Management in Nigeria.

    Idabor, who was represented at the retreat by Mrs. Uche Okwechime, NOSDRA Director of Finance and Administration, said the objective of the retreat was to ensure consultants’ full adherence to procedures, regulation and guidelines governing oil spill management.

    She said the Director-General had put a stop to all unaccredited consultants in getting contracts from the oil companies to ensure that those who are fully accredited by NOSDRA get the contract jobs from oil companies.

    She warned the operators of oil companies to ensure full compliance with the order and patronise only qualified and capable NOSDRA accredited consultants.

    On the issue of unclean oil spill in the Niger Delta, Mrs. Okwechime said the Federal government was addressing the issue of incessant oil spill, pollution and environmental degradation in the Niger Delta region, particularly in Ogoni land.

    She noted that the retreat was part of the efforts towards ensuring best practices relating to oil spill management, clean-up, rehabilitation, protection and remediation of the environment.

  • Bonga spill: ‘Shell to pay $3b to affected communities’

    Bonga spill: ‘Shell to pay $3b to affected communities’

    The National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) has directed Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO) to pay $3.6 billion to affected communities of Bonga oil spill.

    NOSDRA’s  Director-General, Sir Peter Idabor, in a letter to the oil firm, said that the agency imposed a sanction on the company in 2014 for the damage done to the natural resources and means of livelihood by the spill since 2011.

    In a statement issued in Abuja by the Head/ Deputy Director, Public Affairs Unit in Abuja,  Idabor, said the company did not make any attempt to provide relief materials for the shoreline fishing communities with respect to the acute and chronic impact of the crude oil on the environment.

    “Despite the fact that the incident was caused by equipment failure and the admission by the then Managing Director that 40,000 barrels of crude oil spilled into the Atlantic Ocean, no attempt was made by the oil company to provide relief materials for the shoreline fishing communities with respect to the acute and chronic impact of the crude oil on the environment.

    “NOSDRA DG, Sir Peter Idabor, has directed SNEPCO to pay the sum of $3,600,191,206.00 or its Naira equivalent as compensation and administrative costs for failure to effect clean up on the impacted site within the stipulated period, as provided in the agency’s Act and Regulations.

    “NOSDRA in 2014 issued a notification of sanction to the oil company with regard to the Bonga spill incident but it has yet neither paid compensation to the affected shoreline communities nor provided relief materials to them, as directed by the Agency and the House Committee on Environment.

    “Meanwhile, by virtue of the latest reminder on the notification of sanction on the spill incident, NOSDRA has directed SNEPCO to pay the said fine and compensation, or face the legal machinery available to the Agency to ensure its compliance,” it said.

  • IYC: NOSDRA, others have failed us

    IYC: NOSDRA, others have failed us

    The President of the umbrella body of Ijaw youths, the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide, speaks to Mike Odiegwu on reasons behind persistent environmental problems in the Niger Delta and plans of the youth to tackle the menace.

    How would you react to the attitude of oil companies operating in the Niger Delta, especially with regard to oil spills, compensation and other environmental issues?

    It is impunity – do what you like and then bribe some people and get away with it. The spillages of Mobil since 1998, they have refused to pay the Niger Delta people. They are there conniving with agents. The senior management of Mobil is conniving with claim agents, embezzling money meant for communities. We will take this matter up to the highest level of Mobil.

    SNEPCO is owing our people $1.8bn. They have been asked to pay but they come with this flimsy excuse that we are in court. We are not in court. pay us our monies because the activities have brought untold hardship to our people. They have changed our people’s lifestyle and have turned them to criminals and because of this they are forced to break pipelines to carry crude. They are forced to cook crude to destroy the environment just because they must survive.

    So part of the crises in Niger Delta is as a result of the activities and negligence of the oil companies, and so you see our people getting involved in negative activities just because they want to survive. They destroy pipelines just to survive; they steal crude oil just to survive. The usual ways of survival have been destroyed by corrupt practices and so SNEPCO must pay Bonga spill that saw over 40,000 barrels of oil in the environment and even when they came to clean they came with harsher chemicals that further destroyed and compounded the issue in the environment. That issue is lingering and they must pay that money. We will tackle them till the society understands what we are doing.

    We will take this fight to Holland,London and America where the people will question them. I hope that President Buhari will ensure the dignity of Nigerians by ensuring that all are sanctioned without any iota of fear or favour. Any International Oil Companies (IOCs) that abuses the rules of engagement or wants to bend the normal practice when it comes to doing their business and the environment should be sanctioned because if they respect the environment in the Golf of Guinea, they should do same here. They should pay attention to our environment too.

    How would you react to the recent judgment by the Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt on the case involving ARCO and other companies?

    I think that it is victory for democracy and the judiciary in the Justice Lambo Akanbi delivered judgment against Agip Oil Company, Plantjera and General Electronics (GE) against ARCO Group of Companies. ARCO has been servicing the Obiobi Gas Plant in conjunction with G.E for Agip since 2007 and the Local Content law says that when a local contractor demonstrates capacity to handle a job and handle equipment,it should be given priority but unfortunately Agip went and brought Plantjera,an automobile company that has no experience to try and see how they will push out ARCO and ARCO went to court.

    The IOCs always boast about owning the law in Nigeria because they can spend all manner of money to hire all kinds of senior advocates and delay your case until you grow old. The judiciary us living up to expectation by restoring the dignity of Nigeria in terms of cases between Nigeria and multinationals and we are happy because the statuo quo should remain.

    In fact, Agip brought Plantjera to take away ARCO, even when there was a court process on, an abuse of the Nigerian judiciary system. This is what the IOCs do. They come here  and indulge in practices they don’t do in their countries because they think our people will always sell out. That is the same thing Mobil did in 1998,which is causing a lot of problem in the Niger Delta.

    What does the judgment portend to the Local Content Act and the Niger Delta?

    It is a wake up call for the local content board because if they were strictly enforcing their laws, we won’t go to court in the first place but they are not doing their job. You can’t blow hot and cold and behave as if nothing happened and allow these companies think they can get their way. People don’t do what is right when they see oil money. It is a wakeup call for the local content board to sit up and ensure that they enforce the laws that have been put in place to protect Nigerians.

     What can other indigenous companies operating in the Niger Delta learn from AIICO?

    AIICO is a strong company. It is not every indigenous company that is as powerful as AIICO to even hire a SAN. AIICO was able to get three SANs to do its case and that is because it’s buoyant. Overtime, AIICO has been able to build capacity and strength that is why they were able to challenge them. It has strong Nigerian presence and has added so much value to the lives of Nigerians. I pray that the judiciary wakes up to its responsibility just as it’s doing so that every other indigenous company can also stand up to challenge the statuo quo when it is trampled upon.

    So, what do you think account for the double standard of oil companies in Niger Delta?

    It is all about the attitude of our people. It’s government not being responsible and ensuring that you enforce the law. Why should a foreigner break the law in Nigeria and then he will not even imagine it in his dream in his company? It is because we are still in this master-slave mentality. We must begin to grow beyond that. They abuse the environment and don’t tell the government how much they have made. We must be respected as individuals and as a country.

    I implore Buhari to look at that area because revenue accruing to the Federal Government is being lost through these practices. If the President really needs money to run his government, then he must ensure that these companies do what is right.

    By the SNEPCO’s spill,the Federal Government has $1.8bn in fines and royalties. It is plenty of money to run government and pay salaries. These are part of loopholes that need to be blocked. Respect our laws and do what is right as at when due. If the government is strict with our laws, these companies will respect our land.

    Do you think National Oil Spill Detection Regulatory Agency (NOSDRA), the Ministry of Environment and other regulatory agencies have done enough?

    They have not done enough. There is so much inequality in Nigeria. Everybody wants to meet up. Corruption has eaten deeply into every strata of the society. The President needs to be ready to fight corruption. These agencies are there to ensure that these companies do the right things or sanction them but somebody will look the other way. That is why SNEPCO has refused to pay compensation they are supposed to pay. That is why Mobil has refused to pay 1998 spillage and that is why Agip can think that they will abuse the law of Nigeria and disobey court orders and get away with it.

    Is there any future for the Niger Delta environment?

    As we are now, there is no future. There is nothing to look forward to until a reversal of these issues that I have raised. The national confab has put a lot of these things into perspective and that’s why some of us have advocated that President Buhari’s government should begin from implementing the national confab report because that report has seen a lot of these issues looked into holistically. The national confab holistically discussed issues that affect our environment, issues concerning oil businesses and exploration, issues concerning government,and if implemented,we can begin from there.

    So the future for the Niger Delta lies in restructured Nigeria where we have reorganised the way we will continue to live as one. That reorganization will begin to take care of every strata of the society.

    What can IYC do?

    Advocacy, just as I am doing now. The issues must be brought to the fore so that people can discuss and begin to proffer solution. One day somebody will listen and one day, President Buhari may decide to listen and take the steps necessary. The best we can do is advocacy and discussions; moving the discourse to their table is the new approach of IYC. It will not only be on the streets of Nigeria. It will be on the streets of London, America and Europe so that when they can avoid the discussion in Nigeria by bribing people, let them go and bribe their people and let us see.

  • NOSDRA DG, activist in dirty fight

    NOSDRA DG, activist in dirty fight

                                                                    • Parties allege corruption, vendetta 

    NOSDRA (National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency) is one of the most corrupt agencies in the country; everything about NOSDRA under the present management is corruption and we must not allow it to continue.”

    Those were the words of Mr Eyitemi Brown-Dibofun, a Niger Delta environmental rights activist, who is engaged in a gloves-off fight against the management of the environmental agency, led by Peter Idabor.

    Brown-Dibofun, who represents some Niger Delta communities in spill matters, is in a no-love-lost relationship with Idabor, who he accused of derailing the dream of the nine-year-old agency. He said, under Idabor, NOSDRA had failed in its responsibility as the lead agency in spill management in Nigeria, remarking that corruption is also booming in the agency.

    He claimed that the DG has only remained in the position due to his relationship with President Goodluck Jonathan, with whom he worked at the defunct Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC) in the 1990s.

    Another of his grouse against the agency is the recent employment of about 1,000 staff, allegedly mainly from Idabor’s Iselle-Asagba community in Delta State without recourse to Federal Character and civil service rules.  He called for an investigation in the “employment scam” in several petitions to the Minister of Environment, describing the agency as “a citadel of corrupt practices.”

    The first petition, which receipt was acknowledged by the Ministry of Environment on February 6, claimed that over 950 members of staff both in the senior and middle cadres and fresh graduates have been recruited or employed since Idabor’s appointment as DG NOSDRA in early 2011.

    “This employment and recruitment exercise was skewed in favour of his ethnic nationality from Delta North Senatorial District of Delta State,” Brown-Dibofun further alleged in the petition, a copy of which he made available to our reporter in Warri.

    He said his private investigation also revealed that the employment process was not duly done through the processes laid down. “Public Service Rule 020102 clearly states that vacancies for employment be advertised in the media as a standard practice. Mr Idabor is also in breach of public service rule 020207 for ignoring or refusing to publish shortlisted names of applicants for senior posts.

    “Having regard to the Federal Character Commission Law and the Third Schedule to the Constitution has also breached the spirit and intendment of the said section of the constitution. The DG was also not circumspect in the manner he bestrode the agency as the “Lord of the Manor” sharing our patrimony on the basis of Nepotism and Ethnicity,”he claimed.

    However, in spite of the petition, the NOSDRA DG, who was first appointed in 2011 after the death of the pioneer DG, recently got a nod from the outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan for a second term, much to the chagrin of Brown-Dibofun. He told our reporter that personal relationship, rather than performance, influenced the action of the president.

     

  • NOSDRA only effective on paper, says activist

    NOSDRA only effective on paper, says activist

    Comrade Sheriff Mulade is the Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for Peace and Environmental Justice, an NGO in the forefront of the fight for end to pollution and illegal bunkering in the Niger Delta. In this interview with SHOLA O’NEIL, he speaks on why the fight against illegal is difficult to win and why communities are handicap in their battle with oil multinationals on oil spills.

    That are the challenges of environmental advocacy in the Niger Delta?

    We have been at the fore of the fight to stop illegal bunkering because the entire ecosystem has been drastically affected by oil exploration. This has also affected the livelihood of the people and the challenges are enormous because: One, the people whose their environments are bastardised don’t know the effect of what is happening in their environment; two, some of the challenges are from the security agents, like the JTF, assigned to the Niger Delta. They are those we rely on and hope to work with in one way or the other, but they are partially involved in illegal activities. Therefore, you find it very difficult to work with the security agencies. If you do, your life will be in danger because some persons inside the security outfit will expose you to the illegal bunkering operators and you become a target.

    Also, the government merely pays lip services to the environmental issues. There are multiple organisations and agencies all doing the same issue. Look at NESDRA, NOSDRA and look at the Ministry of Environment; all of them have different penalties and laws for pollutants. We are advocating that there should be one commission or agency regulating the entire process so that if any of the IOCs or any pollutant is involved, we will have the right channels to take them to.

    Sometimes when we tackle the pollutants, especially multinational agencies, on the extent of damage and cause of a spill with NOSDRA, the pollutant will move straight to NESDRA or the Ministry of Environment and the ministry will use its power to bypass NOSDRA and that will be the end of it. So, we want one regulatory body rather than duplication of agencies because they are conflicting as it is now.

     

    DO you think that having one agency as suggested will stop the problem, when the Ministry of Environment is under the government, which is in fact a pollutant by virtue of its stake in the Joint Venture Partnership?

     

    If government must be involved in the oil industry, it should be involved in the revenue end. But in the area of pollution, NOSDRA and the other agencies should be independent to work and be able to bring the FG to bear. We have that problem, for example there is a spill in Bayelsa where the House of Representatives and NOSDRA instructed that Shell should pay a certain amount of money, but because of the government’s involvement in the penalty payment, the government took no action. That is why we are saying the agency should be one and there should be independent.

    There are also communities making allegation of connivance between the agencies and IOCs in shortchanging the locals…

    Yes, that is true! Because the International Oil Companies have resources and the logistics, NOSDRA has become a tool in their hands. When there is a spill, there is what is called the Joint Investigation Visit team comprising the community, NOSDRA and the multinationals to ascertain the cause of the spill. But the irony is that oil multinational provides logistics, light refreshment and ‘transport allowance’ to those doing the investigation. What do you expect to come out of the JIV? At the end of the day, the JIV would be tailored towards ‘Third Party’ interference, which removes liability from the oil companies, even though the companies have lots of obsolete and constantly failing facilities that lead to spill.

    Again, NOSDRA staff are contractors to the multinationals and that is why most of the equipment failures are blamed on illegal bunkering and third party intervention because the company has seen a cheap way to avoid payment of compensations and carrying out proper cleanup. The communities have no power to lobby in the face of the Nigerian problem of corruption. The judiciary has also failed the common man.

     

    You claim that NOSDRA staff are contractors to oil multinationals, can you expatiate on your claim?

     

    Yes, I said so and it is true. When I say NOSDRA and other agencies involved in the area of environment are contractors, I know what I am saying. It may show that I don’t have evidence to substantiate this, but in Nigeria when someone is a contractor and those of us involved know what we are talking about. There is an instance where a NOSDRA official, let me not quote an office, is involved in recommending a contractor for cleanup, he is involved in recommending a particular firm. He accredited and recommended the cleanup contractor, saying ‘this company is competent and reliable’. If you investigate, that contractor is in alliance with that particular official in the agency. Is that staff not a contractor?

    NOSDRA, as an agency from the past couple of years, is only effective on papers and documents. With their mandate, we have not seen much from NOSDRA and we are highly disappointment in it. They are only serious in Abuja where there is no spill. I don’t expect the head office of NOSDRA to be in Abuja; doing what? The Director Operation, Spill is also in Abuja and he would wait for his foot-soldiers to get information to him there before he can act. They are supposed to be in Warri, PH or Yenagoa.

    Various workshops have highlighted how illicit wealth made from bunkering is distorting the leadership structure in the communities; some say most communities have been coerced into supporting the criminals

    Most of the illegal bunkerers, who are illiterates, have become key figures in our local politics up to the state and federal levels, not just in communities. I have carried out a study and realized that the amount of violence you perpetuate will determine your level of recognition in the Niger Delta. Through the illegality, if you are well positioned, you get recognition from government and you start making money. There is no longer hard work or determination to make an impact in the society. What you see is how to make it. Every young man wants to make it in their early 20s, 30s without any preparation and education is no longer the key. That is why I urge Buhari not to compromise his integrity for us to have a better environment.

     

    How can the communities help when illegal bunkering gangs are now the rulers and leaders of several communities?

     

    I agree that they have so much money now, but if government can take action, the money will drain off within months because bunkerers are criminals and for them to sustain the level of affluence they need steady supply of money. They are like armed robbers; they don’t invest. If government strangulates their source of funding and stop bunkering they will lose control and eventually normalcy will return.

  • DPR, NOSDRA indict oil firm for crude oil wastes

    The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has denied being party to the diversion of crude oil deposit at Stubo Creek Marginal Field in OML 14 by Universal Energy Resources Limited.

    The regulatory agency said it did not give approval for the lifting and disposal of crude oil wastes as claimed by the oil company.

    The National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) also claimed that it was not notified of the transfer and disposal of the waste by the oil company in contravention of NOSDRA’s law.

    The disclosures were made yesterday at an investigative public hearing carried out by a House Ad Hoc Committee following a petition by Mbo Youth Development Association.

    The youth alleged that the company loaded three trucks of crude oil on February 8; three trucks on March 22; five trucks of crude oil on March 31 and seven trucks  on April 8, totalling 18 trucks within the period under review.

    In his submission, the Chief Operations Officer (COO) of Universal Energy, Steve Okoko explained that three trucks lifted sediments from the site on March 31 while seven trucks loaded waste mud.

    He added that when the youth of the community refused to allow the trucks to leave, claiming that the trucks were lifting crude illegally, the military was invited leading to the arrest and detention of the trucks and the drivers.

    According to him, the trucks and the drivers were released after five days in detention when the Nigeria Security Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) confirmed that the alleged stolen crude oil was sediment.

    However, the representative of the DPR, George Osahon, said there was no record in DPR to show that the company was given authorisation to truck out its crude by road, as alleged.

    “When the DPR, NOSDRA, youths and chiefs of the community visited the site it was observed that there were five tanks at the site, three were empty, one was discharging to the facility while one was still filled with crude oil awaiting discharge.

    “The company has not violated any section of the petroleum Act 1969 and pertinent regulations relating to drilling operations. Though DPR asked Universal which company is handling disposal and treatment of its wastes and whether they are duly lisensed.”

    “They promised to get back but never did,” he added.

    Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee commended the youth and the community leaders, saying: “We can blame the government but we have obligations too and that is what the youth and the leaders of this community have done to protect the resources of the country.

    “We haven’t concluded the investigation and based on what have been submitted, we will come to a conclusion and we shall be fair to all”.

    The committee gave the NSCDC, Uyo command until Friday  to appear before it or be forced to.

  • Reps summon NNPC, DPR, others over crude diversion

    Reps summon NNPC, DPR, others over crude diversion

    • Debate on 2015 budget, PIB today

    The House of Representatives has summoned the management team of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and National Oil Spill Detection Response Agency (NOSDRA) over an allegation that Universal Energy Resources Limited is diverting crude oil deposit at Stubo Creek Marginal Field.

    The ad hoc committee headed by Hon. Friday Itulah which is in charge of the investigation has also invited other stakeholders such as the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), representative of Akwa-Ibom government, the Chief of Mbo and the Youth Development Association of Mbo, all in the Mbo Local Government Area of Akwa-Ibom State.

    The public hearing is slated for tomorrow.

    A similar but more profound investigation chaired by Hon. Opeyemi Bamidele had been ordered by the Speaker of the House,  Aminu Tambuwal, on March 12 this year to investigate the revenue earned by Federal Government from oil export, other sources as well as ascertain the state of the Nigerian economy last year.

    Also, on resumption from 2015 Governorship and State Assembly elections recess yesterday, lawmakers may likely consider the report of the Committee on 2015 Budget and the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).

    Two years after it was referred to the committee by the leadership of the House, Mohammed Bawa. Chairman of the adhoc Committee on PIB had on March 12 this year laid the report before the House.

    It is therefore expected that the lawmakers will commence debate on the 707-page report of the Adhoc committee for the “Act to provide for the establishment of a legal, fiscal and regulatory framework for the petroleum industry in Nigeria and for other related matters.” before the expiration of the seventh Assembly in June this year.