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| Ovie Omo-Agege & Mele Kyari. |
The
attention of has office of the Deputy Senate President, has been drawn to a
statement credited to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC,
stating that the Deputy President of the Senate, Distinguished Senator Ovie
Omo-Agege, was either misinformed or must have been quoted out of context in
his plea for multinational oil companies to relocate their headquarters to the
Niger Delta region.
According
to the Special Adviser to the Deputy Senate President on Media and Publicity,
Yomi Odunuga, th e DSP had specifically sought a commitment that the planned
relocation of the headquarters of the Nigerian Gas Company from Ekpan-Warri in
Delta state should be dropped as its relocation could jeopardise developmental
strides in the area.
He
says that while it is gratifying that the NNPC, in the statement signed by its
General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, has assured
all the stakeholders in the region that neither, the NGC nor any of its
other subsidiaries would be relocated outside the area of operation, the
following clarifications have become necessary.
First,
there has been widespread anxieties among stakeholders in the Niger Delta over
alleged plans for the relocation of the NGC; it has been on the front burner
for many months before the Deputy President of the Senate drew attention to it
during the ministerial screening and it must be stressed that the issue was the
focus of a peaceful protest by Niger Delta youths earlier in January at the
premises of the NGC and this disrupted the activities of the gas firm until an
official from the Delta State Government and other stakeholders intervened and
normalcy was restored.
This
particular event, Yomi Odunuga says, was widely reported and it was given ample
coverage in The Guardian newspaper of January 8, 2019 with the title
"Delta youths protest against planned relocation of the gas company.'
Furthermore,
the SA to the DSP said that It is clear that Senator Omo-Agege has spoken from
a position of informed knowledge and it is very unfortunate that the NNPC would
rather deploy such indecorous and intemperate language to dismiss efforts to
douse anxieties, especially in a matter that touches on the economic prosperity
of the Niger Delta region and as far as the Deputy Senate President is
concerned, he would continue to maintain his demand that multinational oil
companies should, in compliance with an earlier plea made by Vice President,
Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, to relocate their headquarters to the region while
guaranteeing the safety of the workers.
This
will further help in the accelerated economic and physical development of the
area as there would be massive employment opportunities with anticipated return
of the oil servicing firms that also relocated alongside the multinational
companies.
The
Deputy Senate President aims to leverage on his position to ensure that
complete peace returns to the Niger Delta so that its people can further access
the benefits of President Muhammadu Buhari's economic plans and thereby attain
the potential of a truly blessed region.
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