N’Delta Lawmakers Insist On 65% Oil Wells

To facilitate development in
the Niger Delta region, South-South and South East lawmakers have urged the Federal Government to review the ownership structure of oil wells in the country.
“The people of the Niger Delta region should possess at least 65 percent of the oil wells contrary to the present ownership structure where less than 10 percent of the oil blocks belong to our people”
They noted that the region’s development is being hindered by the present payment mode of derivative oil funds.
”There is an urgent need for the Federal Government of Nigeria to put in place adequate machinery that would ensure direct payment of derivative oil funds into the hands of Niger Delta Benefiting communities,” they said.
Rising from the first parliamentary session of the South-South and South-East Houses of Assembly in Owerri, Imo State weekend, the lawmakers condemned the criminal and nefarious activities of the so called herdsmen.
“Legislators of the Houses of Assembly in the South-South and South East can no longer watch helplessly as our region drifts aimlessly while our people walk the razor edge under the strain of impoverishment, environmental degradation, insecurity and uncertainty on the one hand and the destruction of oil/gas installations and the attendant consequences including their impact on the ecosystem and the economy on the other hand”
They urged the youth to shun confrontation, violence and militancy in pressing for the redress of the zone.
They stressed that militants from the zones should be constituted into an officially recognized brigade for the protection of oil installations
The lawmakers advised the Presidency to direct the security agencies in the country to brace up and be alive to their constitutional responsibility of protecting lives and property.
“Governments of the South-East and South-South geo-political zones should set up a high powered joint judicial panel of inquiry to unravel the facts and circumstances surrounding the incessant attacks by the herdsmen and determine the best way to prevent its recurrence in the zones. They should also establish special task force drawn from the various security agencies and neighborhood watch in each local government to checkmate the excesses of herdsmen and prosecute them”
The legislators, restated their commitments to pass bills restricting cattle rearing, prohibiting grazing of cattle from one location to another through farmlands thereby causing damages to farm lands, health hazards and obstruction of vehicular and human traffic.
The lawmakers attributed the defective and harsh socio-economic environment to lack of employment opportunities, lack of empowerment for the youth, environmental degradation, lack of infrastructure, general underdevelopment and inadequate benefit of the resources from the region.
They urged the Federal Government to revisit the performance of the amnesty programme, the United Nations Environment Programme Report and the Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project with a view to strengthening grey areas.
They also urged the National Assembly to ensure the accelerated passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill.