The leadership of Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), Centre for Human Rights and Anti-Corruption Crusade (CHURAC) as well as communities in Rivers State under the umbrella of the Coalition of Rivers Oil and Gas Host Communities (CROGHCOM) have expressed displeasure over President Muhammadu Buhari’s decision to sign the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), 2021 into law on Monday.
They said the bill was assented to by the president despite public outcry over some of the controversial clauses adopted in the legislation by members of the National Assembly.
PANDEF’s position was contained in a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Hon. Ken Robinson.
The group specifically rejected the paltry 3% provision for the Host Communities Development Trust Fund and the brazen appropriation of an outrageous 30% of NNPC Limited oil profit and gas profit for a dubious, nebulous Frontier Oil Exploration Fund.
“It’s quite unfortunate that President Muhammadu Buhari went ahead to assent to the Petroleum Industry Bill, despite the overwhelming outcry and condemnation that greeted its passage by the National Assembly, especially with regards to the paltry 3% provision for the Host Communities Development Trust Fund and the brazen appropriation of an outrageous 30% of NNPC Ltd profit for a dubious, nebulous Frontier Oil Exploration Fund.
“This PIB falls way short of the expectations of the Oil and Gas Producing Communities that bear the brunt of unconscionable industry operations.
“This assent, by President Buhari, simply speaks to the repugnant attitude of disregard, propelled by arrogance, disdain and contempt with which issues concerning the Niger Delta Region are treated, particularly, by the present administration.
“What this act signifies is an unequivocal message to the Niger Delta people that how they feel and what they say, do not count, at all, in the Schemes of the Nigerian project.
“That’s insensitive, abominable and afar every boundary of proper Democratic practice, and, therefore, unacceptable to the good people of the Niger Delta, the critical economic nexus of the entire Nigerian territory.
“The Niger Delta people will speak, shortly, after full consultations, on this callous act, on the best legal and political response,” Hon. Robinson assured.
Also, CROGHCOM in a press statement released in Port Harcourt on Monday shortly after the news of President Buhari’s assent to the law, said: “We want to state very clearly that this PIB is just a rubber stamp of what the executives wanted, that’s why it’s being hurriedly passed and signed just like that.”
The statement which was signed by Chairman of the Coalition, Barituka Loanyie added: “We want our people and indeed the world to know that the meagre 3% provided for the host community trust signed into law by the president is to be managed by the oil companies. The oil companies are the ones that have the responsibility of setting up and managing their respective host community trusts. It is like the case of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) where they give with one hand and take with the other hand.
The statement further read: “We reject this PIB because it does not scratch where is itching us. This is complete injustice.
“If the solid minerals act can provide better protection for communities in the extraction site, why will the case of the PIB be different? The Solid Minerals Act provides for the establishment of an Environmental Protection and Rehabilitation Fund to guarantee the environmental obligation of mining companies. This fund ensures the restoration of any damaged environment in the cause of mining activities but the PIB denies oil and gas communities that right.
“We will continue to agitate because that Bill does not scratch where is itching us. We, therefore, maintain that if the PIB was birthed to holistically address the challenges in oil and gas host communities, then there should be a merger of both the PIB with those of the solid minerals act into a single Extractive Resources Community Development Bill.
We want the oil and gas host communities to know that the next stage of the struggle has just started and we will do it non-violently.”
In the same vein, CHURAC President/Chairman Board of Trustees, Cleric Alaowei, said the president’s unusual speed in assenting to the bill was suspicious and a sign that he was predisposed to doing the bid of a section of the country to the detriment of others.
“The speed with which President Buhari assented to the PIB is suspicious. Since he was on self-isolation, why can’t he wait till he resumes fully before giving assent to the controversial bill?
“It appears Mr President is yielding to the desires of a section of the country, especially the core Northern supremacists. For us in the Niger Delta, the hasty signing into law of that rather repressive act only marked another draconian legal regime where the region is being subjected to the whims and caprices of the inimical petroleum laws.
“The new Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) only adds up to the laws that have been colonizing the Niger Delta people. 3% host community funds is an insult to the beleaguered oil-bearing but environmentally degraded communities as far as 30 per cent is approved for oil exploration at the frontier basin which is tactically provided to favour the northern states.
“Niger Delta people need 10 per cent equity share. Three per cent cannot remedy the despoilation of our environment occasioned by the years of unhindered oil exploration.
“We suggest that the president and the National Assembly initiate the amendment of the new act in order to forestall possible breakdown of law and order in the region,” Alaowei suggested.
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