Stakeholders Task FG On Oil Bloc Sales Review

Rising from a three-day summit on how to reposition the oil and energy sector in the country, stakeholders from the Niger Delta have called for the immediate review of the recent sales of oil blocs by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

Making their view public in a communiqué issued at the International Oil and Gas Summit organised by the Rivers State Government last Tuesday in Port Harcourt, the participants stressed the need for the Federal Government to conduct a census of those who own oil blocs.

The essence they averred, was to ascertain the number of indigenes from the Niger Delta that own oil bloc and at the same time redress what they described as imbalance in indigenous participation in the sector.

In the communiqué made available to The Tide, the stakeholders tasked the authorities to adopt an integrated energy policy that would create room for small scale entrepreneurs and other major players to operate in the oil industry.

Worried over the shortfalls observed in the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), they urged governors from the oil producing states of the Niger Delta to commence dialogue with the National Assembly, “to provide for greater participation of indigenous communities.

According to them, the enabling environment for industrial growth was crucial in driving the energy sector since it would provide investors with the necessary incentives to tap from the resources.

In addition, they tasked the government to begin the process of drafting a new energy policy immediately, observing that the appropriate institutional framework for the implementation of such blueprint was necessary in the nation’s oil sector.

Gift Akpan

General Manager, External Relation, Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas, Siene Allwell-Brown (middle) Head, Economic Empowerment Dept, NLNG, Emily Green-Nwodim (right) and Mrs Mojiba Harry, a beneficiary, during NLNG’s Economic Empowerment Development Day, in Port Harcourt, recently. Photo: Chris Monyanaga