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Ogoni Clean-Up: HYPREP Engages Illegal Oil Refiners
The Hydrocarbon Pollution and Remediation Project (HYPREP), says it has engaged illegal oil refiners in Ogoni communities of Khana, Gokana, Tai and Eleme local government areas of Rivers State in the clean-up process.
The Project Coordinator, HYPREP, Dr. Marvin Dekil, made the disclosure in Port Harcourt, while giving an account of the activities of the team over the last 100 days in office.
Dekil noted that artisanal refiners in the area have been engaged in the clean-up so that they will not continue to impact negatively on the area while the clean-up was going on.
The coordinator noted that when HYPREP met the illegal refiners, they (illegal refiners) promised to discontinue activities that are harmful to the environment.
He said that several of the youth, who illegally refined oil, have been engaged and retrained by the body to ensure that they were useful in the clean-up process.
“We met with the leadership of Ogoni ex-artisanal refiners. We had enlightened them about the project, and they promised not to be involved in such activities again having received our message that the trade is harmful to their heath, the society and the environment.
“We gave them the task of identifying the skills they would want us to train them on as an alternative source of livelihood for them,” Dekil added.
Speaking on the clean-up process, Dekil appealed to Ogonis in particular, and the entire people of Rivers State, to exercise more patience over the delay in the implementation of Ogoni clean-up exercise.
Dekil, who made the appeal at a press conference organised to mark his 100 days in office, in Port Harcourt, said it has become necessary to explain the process of the clean up to Ogonis.
He stated that, “the clean-up is done through proper assessment, characterization of the site, finding each of the pollutants, isolating them as well as identifying the best possible technology for removing them and these processes take time, skills and expertise”.
The coordinator added that there were processes and procedures involved in the Ogoni clean-up exercise that would require more time and patience from the affected communities to understand.
“Those baseline work, information gathering, and planning take time, and it is important that we reiterate again that you are not going to be seeing bulldozers in the field because that is not the way to do it.
“As for the report that we are not doing anything, that is wrong because we are doing so much, we are laying those scientific building blocks that will lead to an effective and professional clean-up exercise,” he added.
Dekil also hinted that in the past 100 days, his committee has embarked on educating and enlightening the people on the processes involved in the Ogoni clean-up project, adding that members of the affected communities have been engaged in the sensitisation exercise.
“We have met community leaders, youth, women, paramount rulers and their council of chiefs to explain to us their needs, and what was common is that ‘they need water’. Incidentally, that is one of the key recommendations of the report, ‘provision of potable water,” Dekil noted.
The Tide investigations show that HYPREP had visited Bodo, K-Dere, and Kpor communities, among others, as part of plans to commence the act of clean-up of oil impacted sites in Ogoni.
It would be recalled that the coordinator of HYPREP had earlier this month said that stakeholders had begun efforts to provide emergency water supply to address the concerns of Ogoni people, adding that in the next three months, project implementation would have been activated.
Susan Serekara-Nwikhana
Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminialayi Fubara, has dissolved the State Executive Council.
The governor announced the cabinet dissolution yesterday in a statement titled ‘Government Special Announcement’, signed by his new Chief Press Secretary, Onwuka Nzeshi.
Governor Fubara directed all Commissioners and Special Advisers to hand over to the Permanent Secretaries or the most Senior officers in their Ministries with immediate effect.
He thanked the outgoing members of the State Executive Council for their service and wished them the best in their future endeavours.
The three-paragraph special announcement read, “His Excellency, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, GSSRS, Governor of Rivers State, has dissolved the State Executive Council.
“His Excellency, the Governor, has therefore directed all Commissioners and Special Advisers to hand over to the Permanent Secretaries or the most Senior officers in their Ministries with immediate effect.
“His Excellency further expresses his deepest appreciation to the outgoing members of the Executive Council wishing them the best in their future endeavours.”
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday told the National Assembly that it requires N873.78bn to conduct the 2027 general elections, even as it seeks N171bn to fund its operations in the 2026 fiscal year.
INEC Chairman, Prof Joash Amupitan, made the disclosure while presenting the commission’s 2026 budget proposal and the projected cost for the 2027 general elections before the National Assembly Joint Committee on Electoral Matters in Abuja.
According to Amupitan, the N873.78bn election budget covers the full conduct of national polls in 2027.
An additional N171bn is needed to support INEC’s routine activities in 2026, including bye-elections and off-season elections, the commission stated.
The INEC boss said the proposed election budget does not include a fresh request from the National Youth Service Corps seeking increased allowances for corps members engaged as ad-hoc staff during elections.
He explained that, although the details of specific line items were not exhaustively presented, the almost N1tn election budget is structured across five major components.
“N379.75bn is for operational costs, N92.32bn for administrative costs, N209.21bn for technological costs, N154.91bn for election capital costs and N42.61bn for miscellaneous expenses,” Amupitan said.
The INEC chief noted that the budget was prepared “in line with Section 3(3) of the Electoral Act 2022, which mandates the Commission to prepare its election budget at least one year before the general election.”
On the 2026 fiscal year, Amupitan disclosed that the Ministry of Finance provided an envelope of N140bn, stressing, however, that “INEC is proposing a total expenditure of N171bn.”
The breakdown includes N109bn for personnel costs, N18.7bn for overheads, N42.63bn for election-related activities and N1.4bn for capital expenditure.
He argued that the envelope budgeting system is not suitable for the Commission’s operations, noting that INEC’s activities often require urgent and flexible funding.
Amupitan also identified the lack of a dedicated communications network as a major operational challenge, adding that if the commission develops its own network infrastructure, Nigerians would be in a better position to hold it accountable for any technical glitches.
Speaking at the session, Senator Adams Oshiomhole (APC, Edo North) said external agencies should not dictate the budgeting framework for INEC, given the unique and sensitive nature of its mandate.
He advocated that the envelope budgeting model should be set aside.
He urged the National Assembly to work with INEC’s financial proposal to avoid future instances of possible underfunding.
In the same vein, a member of the House of Representatives from Edo State, Billy Osawaru, called for INEC’s budget to be placed on first-line charge as provided in the Constitution, with funds released in full and on time to enable the Commission to plan early enough for the 2027 general election.
The Joint Committee approved a motion recommending the one-time release of the Commission’s annual budget.
The committee also said it would consider the NYSC’s request for about N32bn to increase allowances for corps members to N125,000 each when engaged for election duties.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on INEC, Senator Simon Along, assured that the National Assembly would work closely with the Commission to ensure it receives the necessary support for the successful conduct of the 2027 general elections.
Similarly, the Chairman of the House Committee on Electoral Matters, Bayo Balogun, also pledged legislative support, warning INEC to be careful about promises it might be unable to keep.
He recalled that during the 2023 general election, INEC made strong assurances about uploading results to the INEC Result Viewing portal, creating the impression that results could be monitored in real time.
“iREV was not even in the Electoral Act; it was only in INEC regulations. So, be careful how you make promises,” Balogun warned.
The N873.78bn proposed by INEC for next year’s general election is a significant increase from the N313.4bn released to the Commission by the Federal Government for the conduct of the 2023 general election.
President Bola Tinubu yesterday expressed grief over the death of a former President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities and one of Africa’s foremost literary scholars, Professor Emeritus Biodun Jeyifo.
Jeyifo passed away on Wednesday, drawing tributes from across Nigeria and the global academic community.
In a condolence message to the family, friends, and associates of the late scholar, Tinubu in a statement by his spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, described Jeyifo as a towering intellectual whose contributions to African literature, postcolonial studies, and cultural theory left an enduring legacy.
He noted that the late professor would be sorely missed for his incisive criticism and masterful interpretations of the works of Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka.
The President also recalled Jeyifo’s leadership of ASUU, praising the temperance, foresight, and wisdom he brought to the union over the years.
Tinubu said Jeyifo played a key role in shaping negotiation frameworks with the government aimed at improving working conditions for university staff and enhancing the learning environment in Nigerian universities.
According to the President, Professor Jeyifo’s longstanding advocacy for academic freedom and social justice will continue to inspire generations.
He added that the late scholar’s influence extended beyond academia into political and cultural journalism, where he served as a mentor to numerous scholars, writers, and activists.
Tinubu condoled with ASUU, the Nigerian Academy of Letters, the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism, the University of Ibadan, Obafemi Awolowo University, Oberlin University, Cornell University, and Harvard University—institutions where Jeyifo studied, taught, or made significant scholarly contributions.
“Nigeria and the global academic community have lost a towering figure and outstanding global citizen,” the President said.
“Professor Biodun Jeyifo was an intellectual giant who dedicated his entire life to knowledge production and the promotion of human dignity. I share a strong personal relationship with him. His contributions to literary and cultural advancement and to society at large will be missed.”
Jeyifo was widely regarded as one of Africa’s most influential literary critics and public intellectuals. Among several honours, he received the prestigious W.E.B. Du Bois Medal in 2019.
