Leaders of the Niger Delta region especially those of the host communities have been enjoined to be transparent with the three per cent host community fund targeted at improving the lives of community members.
Director-General of the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), Alhaji Idris Musa, said this in an exclusive interview with the Nigerian Tribune at his office in Abuja.
He said a deeper look at the outcome of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) which has drawn reaction from different quarters, the host communities have been identified for the first time and given a fair deal, that would transform the communities if the managers of the fund are transparent.
According to him, with a better outlook and prospects by the oil firms in the coming year, the communities are in for a better deal and more definite funds for their development.
He told the Tribune Online, exclusively that, “By the time you aggregate all of this to a large extent it will assuage the ego of the host communities and even though some are saying that the percentage is very low if you read the position of the NNPC GMD who explained that 3% is not three per cent after tax, is 3 per cent of operating cost.
“The operating cost of the oil operators as he puts it last year is about $16bn, if you take three per cent of $16bn, that gives you $409bn, convert that to Naira, at N500, you are already approaching a trillion Naira.
“If that goes you are already affecting the host communities and by that, we also expect change of attitude towards, oil theft, vandalism and artisanal refining to some extent the PIA is good and is better than nothing.
“In it, one per cent goes to the designer or platform for the transactions. People just looked at the one per cent and dismissed it. However, when some people worked out what one per cent would be, they said no how can that money go to an individual and they asked that that money be reduced downward.
“The same thing with this host community. For our leaders, let us look deep before we condemn anything.
“We have the NDDC, we have the Federal Government Allocation Account Sharing, which is the allocation, we have the Ministry of Niger Delta Development, we have the community social development responsibility and the fifth one is this.
“Go back to ecological fund a certain percentage goes to all the state across the board, with transparent governance in all the states of the region you would see a change at least.”
He argued that when the Treasury Single Account which was initiated by the last regime but implemented by the extant administration came up, people did not see the charges of one per cent as significant until some persons did the calculation and saw that it was huge.
“Let us face it every person has his right, we need to do what is patriotic in all that we embark on.
“Have the people found out what is the operating cost of 3 per cent of all the oil companies? There has been a lot of things in the past. Recall the positions on TSA when it first came. People reacted but it was a big booster to the revenue of the federal government because it blocked leakages.
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