Senate’s PIB crisis deepens

[TGD]

• Southern lawmakers seek 'democratisation' of oil blocks

• Northern legislators oppose host community funds, others

• INC, MOSOP flay senators opposed to PIB

IT was far from truce at the Senate Wednesday as Southern and Northern senators continued to clash over the new Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).

While Southern lawmakers accused the North of dominating ownership of oil blocks in the country, their Northern counterparts opposed the proposed host community funds and others for oil-producing areas.

Meanwhile, federal lawmakers opposed to the proposed 10 per cent equity for oil-producing communities in the PIB have been accused of deliberately not wanting to resolve the Niger Delta question.

The Ijaw National Congress (INC) and Movement for Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) who made the accusation cautioned the country not to deny the people of the oil-producing communities benefits from their natural resources.

INC spokesperson, Victor Burubo, told The Guardian in Port Harcourt yesterday that the insistence of Northern senators that the 10 per cent equity fund for oil-producing community in the PIB be expunged illustrates their insensitivity to the plight of the oil-producing communities and lack of respect for them as well.

Similarly, MOSOP President, Legbosi Pyagbara, said the country had reached a stage where the National Assembly should see the 10 per cent as part of social licence required for oil to continue to flow uninterrupted in the Niger Delta.

Pyagbara described the Northern senators' argument as unfortunate and regretted that it was rather absurd that anyone interested in the corporate existence of Nigeria should vehemently oppose the 10 per cent equity for oil-producing areas in the PIB.

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Rules and Business, Ita Enang, representing Akwa Ibom North East, who introduced another dimension to the oil law debate, alleged  that over 83 per cent of oil blocks in the Niger Delta are distributed among big men of the North-East and North-West geo-political zones.

Enang listed northerners who own oil blocks to include Alhaji Mai Deribe, Borno State, owner of Cavendish Petroleum, operator of the OML 110 with an average of about N4 billion monthly.

He said: "Seplat/Platform Petroleum, operators of the ASUOKPU/UMUTU Marginal Field with Malam (Prince) Sanusi Lamido, Kano, as a major shareholder and director. South Atlantic Petroleum Limited (SAPETRO) established by Gen. T. Y. Danjuma, Taraba State, who is also chairman of Eni Nigeria Limited. SAPETRO partnered Total Upstream Nigeria Limited (TUPNI) and Brasoil Oil Services Company Nigeria Limited to become operators of the OPL 246.

"AMNI International Petroleum and Development Company is owned by Alhaji (Col.) Sani Bello of Kontangora, Niger State. They are operators of OML 112 and OML 117. A former Petroleum Minister and former OPEC Chairman, Rilwan Lukman, another northerner, manages AMNI oil blocks and with very key interest in the NNPC/Vitol trading deal.

"Oriental Energy Resources Limited, a company owned by Alhaji Indimi, runs three oil blocks: OML 115, the Oldwok field and the Ebok field. Alhaji Aminu Dantata's Express Petroleum and Gas Limited, operates OML 108. OML 113 allocated to Yinka Folawiyo Petroleum Limited is owned by Alhaji W.I. Folawiyo.

"Alhaji Saleh Mohammed Gambo, North East Petroleum Limited is the holder of the OPL 215 Licence. North East Petroleum which it is known as, was awarded Blocks OPL 276 and OPL 283 and closing thereupon a Joint Venture Agreement with Centrica Resources Nigeria Limited and CCC Oil and Gas.

"INTEL is owned by Atiku, Yar'Adua and Ado Bayero and has substantial stakes in Nigeria's oil exploration industry both in Nigeria and Sao Tome and Principe. Mike Adenuga's Conoil is the oldest indigenous oil exploration industry in Nigeria with six oil blocks while OPL 291 was awarded to Starcrest Energy Nigeria Limited, owned by Emeka Offor which was sold to Addax Petroleum."

According to Enang,  looking at the distribution of oil blocks and the amount of money that comes from the different oil wells,  it is obvious that there is inequity in the distribution of oil blocs.

"The oil is produced in the Niger Delta, yet, it is the people of the North-East and North-West and little of the North-Central that are the people owning oil wells, almost nothing for the South-East and South-West and you are quarrelling with the South-South over 13 per cent derivation.

"I did not want to introduce something that is divisive; it is not intended to divide the country. It is intended to say, 'look, let us be realistic.' What some of the oil wells and their owners produce in a month and take home as profit is sometimes more than what two or three states receive from the Federation Account," he said.

Enang consequently called for the revocation and distribution of oil blocks in line with the federal character principle. "These need to be looked into, revoked and re-awarded. The federal character which is a principle applicable in every aspect of our national existence should also be brought to bear on the application of our oil blocks, marginal fields and prospecting licences," he said.

In a move to control impending rowdiness, Senate President David Mark urged Enang to ensure he had facts and could substantiate his claims. Without waste of time, Enang produced a document and gave links to the site, where the information was obtained.

The debate on draft oil bill began on Tuesday with senators from the Northern and Southern parts of the country dividing over host community funds and powers of the minister.

While Northern senators vehemently opposed the allocation of 10 per cent net profit of oil companies operating in the Niger Delta to host communities, their Southern counterparts said it was not out of place comparing the degree of environmental pollution and economic devastation suffered by the people of the region.

As the chamber resumed the debate yesterday, earlier speakers called for the critical analysis of the bill rather than subjective arguments on the basis of ethnicity.

Akin Odunsi, Ogun West said: "I will expect that the debate is conducted in a most pragmatic manner. With the consensus building up, I believe we are on the right track towards ensuring that we deliver a bill that will lead Nigeria on the right path."

But this admonition was not sustained as Northern lawmakers insisted on the obliteration of the host community funds and other key issues they considered inimical to other parts of the country.

Senator Kabir Gaya, Kano South said: "With all the money allocated to the oil-producing communities, there is still poverty in the area. My focus is on the offshore, which is divided between deep and shallow waters. There is no good sharing formula. The essence of this bill is to ensure that there is a balance."

For Senator Ahmed Makarfi, Kaduna, allocating the 10 per cent net profit of oil companies to the host communities is not a panacea for oil theft or crime since such high- level crimes are not perpetrated by ordinary members of the community.

While accepting the spirit behind the reform of the oil and gas sector due to lack of transparency, accountability and accurate figure of the magnitude of crude oil lifted from the country on daily basis, Abdulahi Adamu, Nasarawa West cautioned against moves to privatise oil companies.

"When we privatise oil companies as stipulated in the bill, the privileged Nigerians will buy the companies and the 'main boys' will control the sector. That will be dangerous for us and for our future. If you take the experience we had in the past, we should ask of what benefit is there in the privatisation moves."

According to Senator Barnabas Gemade, Benue North-East,  oil breeds corruption and called for expansion of oil exploration frontiers as a measure to combat disharmony among distinct regions.

"There is a common adage that wherever you find oil, there is corruption and whenever you find diamond, war comes in. This has been proven beyond doubt. There is oil everywhere and if we play lip service to the development of oil fields, we would be left in the cold", he warned.

Senator Olufemi Lanlehin, Oyo South, was particular about Section 191 of the bill, which gives the President 'awesome power' to grant oil or petroleum licence. He expressed worry that the bill did not state special circumstances or limitation to licences that the President has the power to grant. "Here lies the issue of due process, transparency and accountability. This is unwholesome and there is no place where such a provision is given", he said.

While Senator James Manager, Delta South, warned that withdrawing the 10 per cent host community fund may return militants to the creek, George Thompson Sekibo, Rivers maintained that the money was not meant for the South-South alone. Manager, however, joined others in calling for the expansion of oil exploration to other states to contain bickering over incentives.

The debate continues today with no headway as to if the bill would be read the second time.

The Guardian