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N’Delta Stakeholders Condemn IOCs’ Stance On Onshore Divestment
Critical stakeholders in the Niger Delta have condemned the reasons advanced by International Oil Companies (IOCs) divesting from onshore assets in preference for offshore fields.
They said that the divestment was contrary to the energy transition advocacy to renewable energy sources, and ploy to evade development obligations and responsibility for polluting the region.
They urged the Federal Government to compel IOCs operating in the region to honour the Memorandum of Understandings (MoU), Global Memorandum of Understandings (GMoUs), and other agreements entered with communities.
These were contained in a communique issued, last Monday, after a one-day “Community Dialogue on Unmasking the Motives of IOCs Divestment in the Niger Delta”.
The forum was facilitated by the Environmental Rights Action Friends of the Earth Nigeria, ERA/FoEN, held in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
They argued that while global divestment advocacy was driven by the quest for cleaner energy sources, the same cannot be said of IOCs who are merely abandoning polluted sites to deep sea fields to escape scrutiny on the operations.
According to the stakeholders, the call became imperative following the divestment by the IOCs who have abdicated their social obligations to their host communities spelt out in the MoU and GMoU.
Oil community leaders, youth and women leaders, academia, environmental and rights activists and the media participated in the forum.
They held that “there is a need for a better understanding and deepened community engagements on the global environmental justice and community definitions of investments vis-a-vis the model of the IOCs in the Niger Delta.”
They observed that community people of all classes have suffered exclusion in the divestment process, noting that the divestment process has largely weakened local struggles for environmental justice, divide communities.
The stakeholders noted that there was the need to integrate the communities to make them the central focus of the ongoing divestment process.
“There is complicit silence by the Nigerian state and the regulatory agencies as IOCs dictate the terms of divestment.
“The decision making on the divestment process and other matters relevant to the local communities in the Niger Delta and the IOCs and Nigerians government have excluded the communities.
“There is the need for the IOCs to decommission their toxic assets and carry out remedial actions monitored by independent bodies and civil societies in the communities.
“Need for de-militarisation of the Niger Delta communities that are legitimately agitating for a safe environment for their development.
“The oil and gas companies in Nigeria should be held liable for nearly six decades of ecocide in the Niger Delta as precursor to remedial actions and compensation.
“Divesting abandoned toxic assets and complex problematic relationships with communities that the Domestic Oil Companies (DOCs) have inherited and continued to perpetrate.
“DOCs have inherited and continued the tradition of impunity and lack of accountability to local communities”, the communique read in part.
In his remark, the Executive Director of ERA/FoEN, Chima Williams, said the it was a fact that divestment has become a major issue as the oil majors abandon their toxic onshore facilities and go offshore where they evade monitoring.
He explained that the exclusion of communities and community concerns in the divestment discourse motivated ERA/FoEN to facilitate the dialogue.
Vice Chancellor, Federal University Otuoke, Bayelsa State,Prof Teddy Adias; and Sociology lecturer at University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State,Prof SofiriJoab-Peterside, shared their perspectives on divestment to lay foundations for the dialogue.
The Nigeria Immigration Service has officially ended passport production at multiple centres, transitioning to a single, centralised system for the first time in 62 years.
Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, disclosed this yesterday while inspecting Nigeria’s new Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre at the NIS Headquarters in Abuja.
He stated that since the establishment of NIS in 1963, Nigeria had never operated a central passport production centre, until now, marking a major reform milestone.
“The project is 100 per cent ready. Nigeria can now be more productive and efficient in delivering passport services,” Tunji-Ojo said.
He explained that old machines could only produce 250 to 300 passports daily, but the new system had a capacity of 4,500 to 5,000 passports every day.
“With this, NIS can now meet daily demands within just four to five hours of operation,” he added, describing it as a game-changer for passport processing in Nigeria.
“We promised two-week delivery, and we’re now pushing for one week.
“Automation and optimisation are crucial for keeping this promise to Nigerians,” the minister said.
He noted that centralisation, in line with global standards, would improve uniformity and enhance the overall integrity of Nigerian travel documents worldwide.
Tunji-Ojo described the development as a step toward bringing services closer to Nigerians while driving a culture of efficiency and total passport system reform.
He said the centralised production system aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda, boosting NIS capacity and changing the narrative for better service delivery.
The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) has disbursed N2.225 trillion as federation revenue for the month of August 2025, the highest ever allocation to the three tiers of government and other statutory recipients.
This marks the second consecutive month that FAAC disbursements have crossed the N2 trillion mark.
The revenue, shared at the August 2025 FAAC meeting in Abuja, was buoyed by increases in oil and gas royalty, value-added tax (VAT), and common external tariff (CET) levies, according to a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting.
Out of the N2.225 trillion total distributable revenue, FAAC said N1,478.593 trillion came from statutory revenue, N672.903 billion from VAT, N32.338 billion from the Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL), and N41.284 billion from Exchange Difference.
The communiqué revealed that gross federation revenue for the month stood at N3.635 trillion. From this amount, N124.839 billion was deducted as cost of collection, while N1,285.845 trillion was set aside for transfers, interventions, refunds, and savings.
From the statutory revenue of N1.478 trillion, the Federal Government received N684.462 billion, State Governments received N347.168 billion, and Local Government Councils received N267.652 billion. A further N179.311 billion (13 per cent of mineral revenue) went to oil-producing states as derivation revenue.
From the distributable VAT revenue of N672.903 billion, the Federal Government received N100.935 billion, the states received N336.452 billion, while the local governments got N235.516 billion.
Of the N32.338 billion shared from EMTL, the Federal Government received N4.851 billion, the States received N16.169 billion, and the Local Governments received N11.318 billion.
From the N41.284 billion exchange difference, the Federal Government received N19.799 billion, the states received N10.042 billion, and the local governments received N7.742 billion, while N3.701 billion (13 per cent of mineral revenue) was shared to the oil-producing states as derivation.
The Governing Council of Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic, Bori, has decried the inadequate power supply and poor state of infrastructural facilities and equipment at the institution.
The Council also appealed to the government, including Non-Governmental Organisations, agencies, as well as well-meaning Rivers people to intervene to restore and sustain the laudable gesture, dreams and aspirations of the founding fathers of the polytechnic.
The Chairman of the newly inaugurated Council, Professor Friday B. Sigalo, made this appeal during a tour of facilities at the Polytechnic, recently.
Accompanied by members of the team, Prof Sigalo emphasised the position of technology, technical and vocational education in sustainable development.
He noted that with the prospects on ground, and the programmes and activities undertaken in the polytechnic, there is no doubt that the institution would add values to the educational system in our society and foster the desired development, if the existing challenges are jointly tackled.
This was contained in a statement signed by Deputy Registrar, Public Relations, Kenpoly, Innocent Ogbonda-Nwanwu, and made available to The Tide in Port Harcourt.
The chairman who restated the intention of his team of technocrats to ensure that KenPoly enjoys desirable face-lift, said the Council would deliver on its core mandates, accordingly.
Earlier, the Rector, KenPoly Engr. Dr. Ledum S. Gwarah, commended the appointment of Professor Friday B. Sigalo as Chairman of the KenPoly Governing Council.
He described him and his team as seasoned technocrats and expressed confidence in their ability to succeed.
The Rector pledged the management’s support to the Council to ensure that KenPoly resumes its rightful place in the comity of polytechnics in the country.
Facilities visited by the Governing Council include KenPoly workshops, laboratories, skills acquisition centre, library, hostels and medical centre.
Chinedu Wosu
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