Politics
Rep Faults Siting Of NLNG’s Ship Yard In Lagos
Leader of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Hon. Martin Amaewhule (right), presenting to the House an Amendment Law on Kidnapping in Rivers State at the sitting of the House in Port Harcourt, recently.
Photo: Chris Monyanaga
The member representing
Bonny/Degema Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon. Randolph Iwo Oruene Brown, has criticised the concluded plans by the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Limited to site its proposed ship yard building in Lagos State rather than site it at the key operational base in Bonny Island in Rivers State.
Hon Brown who stated this through his political pressure group, “Advocacy 2015’’, expressed disappointment over the planned relocation describing it as a gross violation of the Nigerian content Act of 2000 and a great injustice on the people of Bonny Kingdom and Rivers State in general.
According to him, ‘’ This is a clear violation of the Nigerian Content Act 2010 sections 25-27 and the psychological contract of the good people of Grand Bonny Kingdom and the entire Niger Delta region.
The People of Bonny and Rivers State are deeply concerned that a project of this magnitude that would have a direct positive impact on the socio-economic well-being of our people will be sighted elsewhere.
Bonny Island, despite her strategic role in the Nigerian project has not yet been connected to the national grid, even as the potential for economic sustainability has been increasingly threatened by the continuous exploitation and degradation of our environment with gas flaring and emissions from other industrial sources’’, he said.
He reminded that the people of Bonny Kingdom where relocated from their ancestral homes for the purpose of the construction of the NLNG facility, and have since continued to live peacefully in spite of the pain of vacating their ancestral land and the sacrifice for the economic well being of the nation.
The lawmaker said it is sad to note that the plans have already been designed and concluded, adding that it is not only unjustifiable but morally wrong and totally unacceptable by the people.
He also said that, the proposed project, if cited as planned will not only rob the state and local government of opportunities, it will further increase unemployment level and untold hardship.
Hon. Brown however called for the immediate
reversal of the proposed plan by the management of NLNG to site the
shipyard project away from where they have significant operations.
“The people of the Niger Delta have been neglected for too long. The gas is from this region; our environment is the most exploited and degraded, our ecosystem destroyed. Yet we are the most marginalised people in the scheme of things. Further, it is quiet disheartening that whilst our people bear the risk of the everyday pollution, from gas flaring and emission from other industrial sources, the management of NLNG will contemplate to indulge in such an irresponsible act to site a project of this magnitude that will ameliorate the plight of our people’’ away from where they have major operation.
“The people will resist by any means necessary the plans by NLNG and their partners to further impoverish the people of Rivers State’’, he said.
The Senate yesterday received the 2026-2028 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper from President Bola Tinubu, marking the formal launch of the 2026 federal budget cycle.
In a letter addressed to the upper chamber, Tinubu said the submission complies with statutory requirements and sets out the fiscal parameters that will guide the preparation of the 2026 Appropriation Bill.
He explained that the MTEF/FSP outlines the macroeconomic assumptions, revenue projections, and spending priorities that will shape Nigeria’s fiscal direction over the next three years.
The letter was read during plenary by the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau Jibrin (APC, Kano North), who urged lawmakers to expedite consideration of the document.
“It is with pleasure that I forward the 2026 to 2028 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper for the kind consideration and approval of the Senate.
“The 2026 to 2028 MTEF and FSP were approved during the Federal Executive Council meeting of December 3, 2025, and the 2026 budget of the Federal Government will be prepared based on the parameters and fiscal assumptions therein,” the President stated.
Last week, the Federal Executive Council approved the fiscal projections, pegging the oil benchmark price at $64.85 per barrel and adopting a budget exchange rate of ?1,512/$1 for 2026—figures expected to significantly shape revenue forecasts and expenditure planning.
After reading the President’s letter, Jibrin referred the document to the Senate Committee on Finance, chaired by Senator Sani Musa (APC, Niger East), with a directive to submit its report by Wednesday, December 17.
The Senate adjourned shortly after to allow committees to commence scrutiny of the fiscal framework and continue the ongoing screening of ambassadorial nominees.
Tinubu’s communication to the Senate came less than 24 hours after he transmitted the same MTEF/FSP documents to the leadership of the House of Representatives.
The letter was read on the House floor by the Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, who also urged timely legislative action as required by law.
The MTEF and FSP are statutory instruments mandated by the Fiscal Responsibility Act and serve as the blueprint for Nigeria’s annual budgets.
They outline the government’s fiscal stance, macroeconomic assumptions, revenue frameworks, projected deficits, and sectoral priorities over a three-year period.
The Tide reports that approval by the National Assembly is a prerequisite for the executive to present the Appropriation Bill for the next fiscal year.
In a statement on Saturday, the former Senate Leader stated that the allocation of nominees across states and geopolitical zones falls short of the constitutional requirement for fair representation in the composition of the Federal Government.
The ex-Senate Whip warned that allowing the list to pass could deepen ethnic suspicion at a time when the administration should be consolidating national unity.
He highlighted disparities in the spread of nominees, noting that while some states have three or four slots, others have none. He also cited the inclusion of Senator Adamu Garba Talba from Yobe, who reportedly died in July.
“The entire North-East states have seven nominees in the list. Further checks revealed that the South-West geo-political zone has 15 nominees, while North-West and South-East have 13 and 9, respectively.
“North-Central region has 10 nominees in the list of career and non-career ambassadorial nominee while South-South parades 12 nominees,” Senator Ndume said.
According to him, such imbalances could heighten tensions and undermine Section 14(3) of the Constitution.
“My sincere appeal to President Tinubu is to withdraw this list. At this critical juncture in his administration, he should avoid missteps that could undermine national unity and foster ethnic distrust.
“I know him to be a cosmopolitan leader who is at home with every segment and stakeholder in the country. He should withdraw that list and present a fresh set of nominees that will align with the spirit of the Constitution on the Federal Character Principle,” Senator Ndume added.
He accused the legislators of undermining the sanctity of the legislature and acting as instruments of destabilization.
“The members of the Rivers State House of Assembly have, by their actions since they assumed office, shown that they are political puppets and a clog in the wheels of democratic progress,” Comrade Ememobong stated, adding that “They will go down in history as enemies of democracy and those who made mockery of the legislature.”
“So the easiest way to describe their action is a defection from APC to APC,” he said.
Comrade Ememobong announced that the party would deploy constitutional provisions to reclaim its mandate from those who have “ignobly and surreptitiously” abandoned the platform on which they were elected.
“Consequently, the PDP will take legal steps to activate the provision of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999 as amended) to recover the mandate gained under the banner of our party which these people have now switched to another platform,” he said.
He urged party members in Rivers State to remain calm and steadfast.
“We urge all party members in Rivers State to remain faithful and resolute, as efforts are underway to rebuild the party along the path of inclusiveness, fairness and equity,” Comrade Ememobong assured.
