PIB: Sanction States That Fail To Set Up Oil Commission, Host Communities Tell FG

The Host Communities of Nigeria Oil and Gas, while awaiting the passage of the Petroleum Industrial Bill have said that it is imperative for State Governments to establish the ‘Host Communities Oil Producing Area Development Commission’, to aid development in the communities.

The communities in a statement on Wednesday said that any state that refuses to establish the Commission will be held responsible for any damage of facility in their states.

They recommended that where such state fails to pay, the fund should be deducted from their statutory allocation.

According to the statement, the HOSTCOM condemned Section 115 of PIB which dealt with the regulation and operations of the midstream and downstream operation, regulatory of the surface rights by the midstream and downstream.

They stated that it would rid the communities of their statutory participatory rights and development.

It stated, “State government that have not established oil producing development commission should as a matter urgency establish theirs or any state that refuses to establish the Commission will be held responsible of any damages of facility in their states, and where they fail to pay, the monies shall be deducted from their statutory allocation.

“We note the negative impact of gas flare and its impact on environment, economy and human health which cannot be over emphasized, therefore the operating companies should pay gas flare penalties directly to the Host communities who are the direct recipient of climate change and exploratory activities.”

The HOSTCOM also stressed that property and ownership of petroleum within Nigeria and its territorial waters, continental shelf and exclusive economic zone, should be vested in the Federal Government and held in trust on behalf of the people.

“If we divest our oil and gas resources we would have stripped our nation bare. No nation can survive and be economically healthy after stripping itself of its natural resources which took millions of years to configure.

“The divestment programme will create wide margin between the rich and the poor. It will enslave Niger Delta, impoverish Nigeria and turn Nigeria into a worthless Nation.

“We would have surrendered ourselves to servitude forever. The buyer of our oil and gas assets would be the only one to determine whether we breathe as a nation or not.”

On the operations of the Oil companies in the region, they agreed that any Oil company that fails to set up the Trust Fund within six months after enacting the act should be sanctioned in accordance with Section 68 of the local content Act.