24032021 - Insecurity threatens 2023 elections, Ortom tells Buhari

12 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 2021
EMPOWERMENT:
From left—Dr. Chioma
Nwachuku, Director,
External Affairs and
Communications,
Seplat; Prof. Pat
Utomi, Moderator of
Seplat Education
Roundtable and Prof.
Ngozi Osarenren,
Keynote Speaker,
during the Seplat
Teachers
Empowerment
Programme, STEP,
Awards ceremony
2021, at the STEP
Certificate Award
Ceremony/Seplat
Education Roundtable
in Benin City.
:Vanguard News
:@vanguardnews :@vanguardnews NEWS HOTLINES: 08052867023, 08052867058
Oil spill: Reps ask FG to sanction Shell,
AGIP for violating environmental laws
•Delta communities cry out
By Emma Amaize,
Regional Editor,
South-South &
Levinus
Nwabughiogu
ABUJA—THE House of
Representatives, yesterday,
urged the Federal Government
to sanction Shell Petroleum
Development Company
of Nigeria Limited,
SPDC and the Nigeria Agip
Oil Company, NAOC, for
gross violation of the country's
environmental laws.
The House also asked the
Department of Petroleum Resources,
DPR, the SPDC and
NAOC to comply strictly with
the act establishing the National
Oil Spill Detection and
Response Agency, NOSDRA.
The call to apply punitive
measures followed the incessant
incidences of oil spills in
the Niger Delta by the oil
companies.
Meanwhile, one week after
another oil spillage that killed
a villager and left many others
hospitalized at Polobubo
(Tsekelewu), Opuama and
other riverside communities
in Warri North Local Government
Area, Delta State, the
communities cried out, yesterday,
that both government
and affected oil company had
abandoned them to their fate.
Considering a motion, sponsored
by Henry Nwawuba
and 14 others at yesterday's
plenary, the House noted the
high level of environmental
pollution caused by oil and
gas exploration and production
activities in the Niger
Delta region as well as environmental
degradation due
to poor production practices,
and inadequate maintenance
of pipelines and oil infrastructure.
It noted two separate oil
spills from Okordia Rumuekpe
pipeline and the flow
station at John Krana 4
known as Adibawa flow station
in Eharama community
of Bayelsa State owing to long
usage of oil pipeline since
1969, operated by Shell
(SPDC), and the Ogada-Brass
pipeline operated by Agip
(NAOC) both of which occurred
in 2020.
The lawmakers said that
there was tension in the region
due to lack of employment,
scarcity of natural resources,
pollution of land, rivers and
forests as well as poverty
caused by the activities of
SPDC, in B-Dere, Ogada-
Brass, Okordia Rumuekpe
and other communities in
Ogoni land of Rivers and
Bayelsa states.
It expressed concern that
both "SPDC and Agip have
failed to clean up affected areas
and compensate the affected
families, and neither
have they repaired damages
caused by fire outbreaks arising
from the spills dispersed
by flood which destroyed other
sources of livelihood in the
region."
Adopting the motion, the
House mandated the Committees
on Host Communities
and Environment to liaise
with NOSDRA, DPR, SPDC
and Agip and carry out effective
inspection and Comprehensive
assessment at Muuabooh,
Kinaben, Vuruvulu and
Ke-eegio creeks in B-Dere and
other impacted areas in Gokana
Local Government Area
of Ogoni land, including other
host communities in the
Niger Delta region with a
view to ensuring strict compliance
with NOSDRA Act as
well as the environmental
guidelines and standards for
the petroleum industry in Nigeria.
1 week after oil spill,
Delta communities
By Levinus
Nwabughiogu
ABUJA—HOUSE of Rep
resentatives Commitee
on Public Accounts, yesterday,
said that the Presidential Amnesty
has been grossly mismanaged.
The committee made the
allegation following the inability
of the new interim administration
led by Col. M . Dixon
Dikio (rtd) to account for monies
paid to ex-agitators and
contractors.
In a session with the officials
of the programme, yesterday,
arising from the Audit query
from the Auditor General of
the Federation, the chairman
of the committee, Wole Oke
expressed disclosure that the
office could not account for the
monies expended.
Taking three out of the 21
audit queries, Oke said that
over N3.9 billion was reportedly
expended by the Agency
with proper documents to back
cry out
President of Polobubo bloc
of communities, Mr Paul
Toruwei, who addressed newsmen,
said: "Some persons are
still sick while the majority of
the people are without a
source of livelihood.
"One week after the spillage,
there is no relief in any
form, be it food, drugs and
clean-up of the environment
or whatsoever. Thousands of
fishermen whose means of
livelihood had been destroyed
are lamenting their woes with
no help in sight.
"The people are left to their
fate as the oil company and
government do not care about
them and are only interested
in how they would start oil
exploration from the facility
without concern for the immediate
needs of the community."
Toruwei, who decried the
alleged nonchalant attitude of
the management of the
NPDC/ELCREST, owners of
the OML 40 facility where the
spillage occurred, Delta and
Federal governments, added:
"Already, the NPDC/
ELCREST has been sending
their officials to the site of the
spillage like divers to work
without consulting or approval
of the affected communities.
"Even the Joint Investigation
Visit (JIV) that was done
was controversial as parties
are yet to agree on the cause
of the spillage.
"We call on NPDC/
ELCREST joint venture to
consider the plight of the people
of their host communities,
who are facing the adverse
effect of the spillage from their
facility rather than the desperation
to start operations
"We further call on President
Muhammadu Buhari and
the Minister of Petroleum,
State, Chief Timipre Slyva, to
prevail on NPDC to do the
needful by providing relief
materials to the affected communities
to reduce the adverse
effects of the spillage," he added
Ṁeanwhile, Governor Ifeanyi
Okowa, last week, sent a
high-powered delegation led
by his Commissioner for Oil
and Gas, Chief Emmanuel
Agbadugba to some of the affected
communities for an on
the spot assessment.
In the team, which visited
Opuama community were
the member representing
Warri North constituency Delta
State House Assembly, Fred
Martins, newly elected Warri
North council chairman,
Smart Asekutu and his deputy,
Solomon Mikie.
Presidential Amnesty grossly mismanaged
—Reps •Quiz Interim Administrator, Dikio over N3.7bn
paid to ex-agitators
up the expenditures.
The committee said that the
programme paid over N3.7bn
to ex-agitators and that the
payments violated e-payment
policy of the Federal Government
as they were made into a
single account instead of the
individual beneficiaries accounts.
The Audit query had also
accused the office of paying
N136 million to two different
contractors without proper
rendition of accounts of the
beneficiaries.
The committee further accused
the programme of approving
the sum of N79m for
11 individuals as cash advancement
without retirement
of the same.
In his response, Dikio pleaded
for more time to organize
himself for the answers, saying
he was new in the office.
But the Commitee frowned
at the response, saying that
government was a continuum,
urging him to take responsibility.
The table later turned to the
Director, Finance and Accounts,
DFA, Mr Ityohume
Isaac who said that the N3.7
billion was paid to Camp
Leaders of the former agitators
who in turn paid to those under
them.
He added that not all the
former agitators were on the
Bank Verification Number,
BVN of the Central Bank of
Nigeria, CBN.
However, the Committee
Chairman ruled that the Agency
should provide the Committee
with relevant documents on
the expenditures detailing the
number of the beneficiaries,
amount involved, their addresses
and the names of the
hotels used which they claimed
issued them receipts
The Committee also ruled
that the details of the beneficiaries
of the programme
should be published in three
different national dailies, adding
that the relevant documents
should also be subjected
to forensic investigation.
Belgium pledges to partner Rivers
govt, NDDC on devt
By Egufe Yafugborhi
PORT
HARCOURT—
THE Government of Belgium
has pledged to offer strategic
partnership for mutual
development with the Rivers
State Government and Niger
Delta Development Commission,
NDDC, in diverse sectors
in the state and Niger Delta
region.
In separate meetings in Port
Harcourt, yesterday, Belgian
Ambassador to Nigeria,
Daniel Bertrand acknowledged
NDDC's request for
Belgium's support in the development
of critical infrastructure
in the Niger Delta
and presented the Rivers State
government's intent to expand
Belgian investments in various
sectors of the state.
Following a closed-door
meeting with Governor Nyesom
Wike at Government
House, Port Harcourt, the diplomat,
said, "I am here to visit
the state and visit Belgium
companies existing in this
area.
"There are already some
Belgium companies in Nigeria
with facilities in Rivers
SSG warns Wike to steer clear of
C-River's politics
By Jimoh
Babatunde
A
POLITICAL organisa
tion in Cross River State,
Southern Senatorial Group,
SSG, has come hard on Governor
Nyesome Wike of Rivers
State, warning him to steer
clear of Cross River State affairs
as his meddlesomeness
was a distraction that is not
welcomed by the people of the
state.
This followed the recent
statement by Wike casting
aspersion on Cross River State
governor, Ben Ayade. In a
statement by its Coordinator,
Chief Okon Edet, the group
said "For us here in Cross River,
Wike didn't insult Ayade but
our dear state. Ayade symbolises
Cross River and so any
dart thrown at him is invariably
thrown at Cross River.
"Wike's infantile comparison
of his state with Cross River
in terms of availability of
funds smacks of shallow
thinking.
"Under Wike, how exactly
State. We have some opportunities
to have our facilities
in gas and agriculture."
On the visit to NDDC headoffice
in the Rivers capital city,
Sole Administrator of the
commission, Efiong Akwa,
had told Bertrand, "We want
collaboration in health, environment,
training, agriculture
and developing a new master
plan.
"Health is a major challenge
in the Niger Delta and Belgium
has what it takes to assist
us, considering the way it
was able to successfully tackle
the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Our environment has been
put in jeopardy because of oil
and gas exploration and exploitation
by multinational
companies in the region. Our
people are predominantly fishermen
and farmers and agriculture
is the strength of the
region."
The Belgian envoy responded
"I am looking forward to
working with the NDDC to
deepen our excellent relationship.
I wanted to see what you
are doing, your priorities and
see what we can do together."
has River's financial wealth
directly impacted on the common
people? Under Wike,
Rivers was recently listed by
the National Bureau of Statistics,
NBS, as one of the
states with the highest unemployment
rate.
"Building flyovers all over
Port Harcourt and commissioning
two kilometre roads
amid TV cameras create no
jobs for Rivers youths, while
Julius Berger carts offshore
the collective wealth of Rivers
for the contract awarded.
"Wike perhaps needs urgent
tutorials from Ayade on how
to utilise limited resource for
the establishment of projects
that impact directly on the
people. With Cross River's
meagre income, Ayade has
built a plethora of industries
that create jobs and wealth for
the people.
"Wike absolutely has no
right to impose a governor on
Cross River in 2023. Essentially,
the whole gamut of reason
for his insult on Ayade, nay
Cross River, is our governor's
rock-solid determination to
resist his sinister design for
Cross River.‘‘
Rivers lawyers condemn attempt
to impose junior judge as CJ
PORT
HARCOURT—
SOME lawyer groups in
Rivers State have condemned
the move by Governor Nyesom
Wike to impose a new
Chief Judge on the state while
overlooking the proper candidate
in the process.
The groups, International
Federation of Women Lawyers,
FIDA, represented by Pastor
Ngozi Ighosevebe and the
Concerned Lawyers in Rivers
State led by John Owubokiri
and 11 others in different statements
in Port Harcourt, yesterday,
expressed displeasure at
the move by the governor to
approve the recommendation
and appointment of Justice
Simeon Amadi, as Chief
Judge purely on clannish considerations.
The groups noted that the incumbent
Chief Judge, Justice
Adama Laminkanra, an indigene
of Edo State, who would
retire in May 2021, was so appointed
by the same Wike
based on seniority and hierarchy.
It would be recalled that
Wike had sworn at the time of
Justice Laminkanra's appointment,
that he would sustain the
policy of seniority and precedence
in judicial appointments.
The groups said Wike had
shifted grounds unethically on
ethnic considerations.
They said, "We are at a loss
on why Governor Wike would
abandon seniority and precedence
so soon after it had suited
him to overlook Justice Joy
Akpughunum in the list sent
by his Judicial Service Commission
to the National Judicial
Council, NJC, for consideration
for appointment into
the office of Chief Judge even
when she is erudite, calm,
learned and filled with probity.
"Justice Akpughunum is the
most senior judge in a list in
which Justice Simeon Amadi
comes a distant second with
Justice E Teetito coming third.‘‘