Posted by Niger Delta Youth Council
The Niger Delta Youth Council (NDYC) has said the ceding of only three percent equity shareholding to the oil and gas producing communities is unacceptable and urged all stakeholders in the region to rise up and insist that the 10 percent demand be implemented.
It would be recalled that the Nigeria Senate recently passed the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) after the House of Representatives did the same. In the Bill, three per cent profit from oil companies is ceded to host communities
But the NDYC in a statement jointly signed by its national coordinator, Engr. Jator Abido and the director for international affairs, Comr Collins Ufuoma Achakpekri explained that while the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill was a welcome development, the allocation of only three per cent profit from oil companies to host communities was grossly inadequate and needed to be reviewed upwardly.
“The Niger Delta Youth Council rejects the 3 percent to host communities and 30% percent of the profit generated by the proposed Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to the exploration of oil in ‘frontier basins’ as stipulated in the PIB. We demand 10% as host communities and 5 for impact communities.
“The 3 percent allocated to host communities is grossly inadequate. Prior to the passage, many stakeholders appealed to the National Assembly to allocate five per cent profit to the host communities. The earlier 5 percent canvassed for was rejected to be poor. Cutting it down to 3 percent is unimaginable and unacceptable. Communities, who own these resources and suffer the devastation of oil exploration and exploitation, deserve a better deal than three per cent.
“It is our firm belief that the members of the National Assembly got it wrong at a point but would revisit the issue and make necessary adjustments. Should the National Assembly fails to do the needful, we call on President Muhammadu Buhari who has proven to be passionate about the Niger Delta issues to insist that the 3 percent is reviewed to 10 percent before signing the bill into law”, the statement noted.
It further averred that the 3 percent as proposed is unfair to the region considering the fact that host committees are suffering from environmental degradation, air pollution and other epidemic being caused by the oil exploration from the communities.
The statement also urged the Federal Government to round off the forensic audit being carried out in NDDC so as to inaugurate the already screened board.