The Senate has mandated its committees on Petroleum Upstream, Downstream, Gas, Niger Delta Affairs, Health, and Environment to investigate the May 14a gas pipeline explosion, which occurred in Bayelsa State.
The decision followed a motion moved by the lawmaker representing Bayelsa-Central, Sen. Benson Friday-Konbowei
The motion with the title “Massive explosion close to Gbarian-Ubie Gas Processing Facility in Yenagoa Local Government Area, Bayelsa State and Pollution of the Environment: The Need for Urgent Action”, received the unanimous endorsement of senators at Wednesday’s plenary, presided over by the Senate President, Sen. Godswill Akpabio.
Leading the debate, Friday-Konbowei reminded the Senate that the Gbarain-Ubie Gas Processing facility remained one of the most valuable gas projects in Nigeria, having cost billions of dollars to build.
The senator stated that the facility processed about two billion standard cubic feet of gas every 24 hours.
The lawmaker also said the Senate was aware that the facility supplied gas to the Bonny Terminal for export, which made it a big source of foreign exchange earnings for the country as well as an important employer of labour.
Friday-Konbowei said the Senate was alarmed that there were huge explosions from a crude oil pipeline on Tuesday.
14th of May, resulting in an inferno in the vicinity of the gas facility, “and this constituted a threat to the safety of the facility, which is a precious national economic asset.”
He added that the explosions caused widespread panic among residents of the community where the explosion occurred.
He said that the Senate should be concerned that the inferno resulted in the “pumping of huge volumes of poisonous gaseous substances into the atmosphere, resulting in massive pollution of the environment, with adverse impact on the health of the people within the vicinity.”
The senator also lamented that the air in the vicinity has been “heavily impregnated with impurities, which can cause difficulty in breathing, damage to the lungs and high risk for asthma patients.”
He added that the Senate should be “worried that the cause of the explosions is unknown, creating an atmosphere of suspense and uncertainty.”
Making a contribution, Sen. Diket Plang (Plateau Central) called for urgent measures to prevent a recurrence and to provide for the health of the people.
On his part, Sen. Seriake Dickson (Bayelsa West) said the instant explosion and pollution were akin to the fate that Niger Delta people had lived with all these years.
“It is not only Bayelsa but all oil-bearing states in the Niger Delta.
“It is located in a place where people live. It is appropriate that this matter be brought to the attention of the Senate.
“I understand that efforts have been made to control the inferno, but the people don’t have anywhere to go.
“In fact, in Bayelsa, the residents don’t know the difference between night and day because of the gas flaring activities of oil exploration companies,” the former governor of the state said
Dickson further lamented that Shell Nigeria Plc, the operators of the facility, had allegedly not paid ground rent for the area where the facility was located.
He said, “It may interest you to know that even in this facility, Shell, the operator, has not paid any ground rent. We don’t believe that the executive understands the difficulties that our people have been going through all these years.”
In his remarks, Akpabio described the explosion, consequent inferno and pollution of the environment as a very worrisome situation.
Akpabio spoke more: “First of all, the facility brings foreign exchange to Nigeria. However, the explosion that occurred on May 14, 2024, caused panic as the gases were being spewed out of the pipeline, and the attendant pollution can cause or aggravate asthmatic conditions.
“The good news is that the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration is a corrective regime. We will bring this incident to the attention of the President, and we believe the government will take the necessary steps to ameliorate the situation, and the relevant government agencies will put in place appropriate measures to prevent future occurrences.”
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