A group under the auspices of Host Communities of Nigeria Producing Oil and Gas (HOSCON), has demanded the release of N98 billion gas flare penalty owed oil producing communities in the country.
The National Chairman of the body, Dr Mike Emuh, made the demand in a press statement made available to The Tide.
He said the oil producing communities in the country have suffered untold poverty and environmental degradation as a result of gas flare and oil related pollution in the communities and noted that the payment of the fund would help in, “alleviating the plight of the people and foster peace in the Niger Delta region.
Dr Emuh said that the international law stipulated that: “$3.5 be paid by oil companies for every 1,000 standard cubic feet of gas flared and the law requires that the fund be paid to host communities for the damages done to host communities by gas flaring.”
He decried a situation were the oil firms pay the fine to the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR ) who pays back the money to the Central Bank of Nigeria for disbursement to the Federation Account.
Dr Emuh who was recently re-elected as the president of the body, also called on the Federal Government to allocate more oil blocks to indigenes of the Niger Delta, noting that active participation of the Niger Delta in the oil and gas sector would promote economic development of the region.
He also kicked against the payment of 13% derivation fund to governors, of oil producing states which according to him, runs into over N10 trillion for the past 16 years.
He alleged that the funds were being mismanaged by the governors and therefore have no useful bearing on the lives of the citizenry.

Taneh Beemene