Uduaghan Seeks Petro Act Enlightenment

Delta Governor, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan has called for the enlightenment of indigenes of oil producing communities on Local Content Act of the petroleum industry recently passed by the National Assembly.

The governor made the call at the Nigerian Guild of Editors Conference in Port Harcourt on Friday.

Uduaghan, apparently reacting to a lecture entitled: “ Accountability in Oil and Gas Sector in Nigeria: the Role of NEITI, by Prof. Assisi Asobie, said the enlightenment would stem possible misconception of the the act.

He said, “because people learnt that 10 per cent from oil revenue would be given to host communities, they have started holding talks on the way and manner their community fund would be managed.’’

Uduaghan said Fixed Deposit Accounts should be opened by communities.They should draw interests accruing from it to develop their communities.

The governor said that communities would gain more from this strategy.

Uduaghan also used the medium to commend the media men for the “wonderful role they played recently to save the nation’s democracy.

“The media deserved commendation for making Nigeria democracy get a bearing following trials the country experienced in the last few months,’’ he said.

Asobie, of the Nigeria Extractive Industry and Transparency Initiative (NEITI), said over 70 per cent of the nation’s oil revenue was spent outside Nigeria.

He attributed the problem to non- availability of accurate records on accrual from oil, noting that the trend was responsible for the abject poverty of most Nigerians.

Mr Timi Alaibe,Special Adviser on Amnesty, said militancy had never been a positive trend in the growth of any nation.

Alaibe, whose lecture was entitled, ‘Militancy: Avoiding a Resurgence,’ said government plans to accommodate indigenes of oil producing areas who did not take up arms during the crisis in the Niger Delta.