Niger Delta - News Agency Of Nigeria

isaac aregbesola
Apr, Wed, 2023

PAP: N/Delta group lauds Buhari over Ndiomu’s appointment

By Collins Yakubu-Hammer

The Niger Delta Rights Assembly (NDRA) has lauded President Muhammadu Buhari for the appointment of retired Maj.-Gen. Barry Ndiomu as the Interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP).

This is contain in a statement signed by the President of NDRA, Chief Israel Bokromo and made available to News Agency of Nigeria on Tuesday.

The group described the appointment of Ndiomu as a blessing to the Niger Delta region and the nation in general.

Bokromo expressed the group’s appreciation to the president for the appointment

“We thank President Buhari for overlooking primordial sentiments and self-serving lobbyists in his choice of Ndiomu, whom it said has brought sanity and order into the Programme

“We also want to thank also laud Ndiomu for rising to the occasion of tackling the challenges facing the Amnesty Programme.

“We recognise the pressure mounted on Buhari to discontinue the programme by persons who do not mean well for the nation and Niger Delta people in particular.

“The President did not only snub the lobbyists, he appointed Ndiomu, a man of proven military discipline and integrity.

“We wish to place on record that Ndiomu’s appointment is not misplaced.

”Since his arrival at the Amnesty office, he has allowed an audit of the Programme’s activities which has exposed several fraudulent activities.

“He brought a regime of reforms that has helped to block the leakages and conduits through which many criminal-minded persons have been profiting and stealing money meant for the genuine ex-militants,” Bokromo said.

According to him, the assembly commended the Buhari government for involving critical stakeholders in the Niger Delta in maintaining peace and ensuring security of oil and gas infrastructure as well as stemming the tide of stolen crude in the creeks.

He noted that the involvement of stakeholders like Mr Government Ekpemupolo also known as Tompolo to secure oil and gas infrastructure in the creeks was a masterstroke that had significantly reduced the incidence of oil theft.

“The group noted that the culture of probity, accountability and transparency instituted by Ndiomu is yielding anticipated results, especially the exposure of monumental fraud bordering on flawed payment systems and contract inflation.

“The group listed some of the achievements recorded by Ndiomu to include, earning the confidence and support of Buhari and timely payment of monthly allocations.

“Another achievement is sustaining peace in the region leading to increased production of crude oil at an average of 1.67million barrels per day,

“Other achievements are the new policy initiatives on cooperative, completion of five vocational training centres and data sanitisation to verify genuine ex agitators, among others,” he said.

He further explained that barely six months, Ndiomu had saved the programme over N1.5 billion from inflated contracts.

Bokromo added that Ndiomu had effectively positioned the programme towards achieving its core mandate of addressing the needs of ex-militants rather than meeting the needs of a few emergency contractors who lack both competence and capacity.

He, however, urged the in-coming government to sustain the culture of probity and fiscal responsibility instituted by Ndiomu to stave off agitations in the future. (NAN)

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Edited by Maureen Ojinaka/Isaac Aregbesola

Rabi'u Sani Ali
Feb, Sun, 2021

Niger Delta

Shell invests in 4 projects to meet Nigeria’s domestic gas demand

By Nathan Nwakamma

The Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) says it has positioned itself to meet the daily domestic gas demand, projected to hit five billion standard cubic feet by 2022, by developing gas fields.

The super-major energy firm also reiterated its support for the Federal Government’s goal of using Nigeria’s proven gas reserves to drive economic activities for gas-based industrialisation.

A statement issued by Mr Bamidele Odugbesan, Media Relations Manager, quoted Mr Osagie Okunbor, SPDC’s Managing Director, as saying that the firm remained optimistic on developing Nigeria’s gas potential.

Okunbor, who doubles as the Country Chair of Shell Companies in Nigeria, said the organisation’s support is shown in its multi-billion dollars investments in four of the ‘Seven Critical Gas Development Projects’ of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation’s (NNPC).

According to the statement, Okunbor spoke at the Nigerian Gas Association’s 12th International Conference and Awards held virtually on Feb. 25, 2021.

The theme was: “Powering Forward: Enabling Nigeria’s Industrialisation via Gas”.

Okunbor said: “Shell has invested in the Assa North Gas Project; four unitised gas fields; Brass Fertilizer Company and the Cluster Development of Okpokunou/Tuomo West (OML 35/62) to support the government’s drive for national development.

“I am very happy that NNPC and the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board have taken key roles in these projects, and gthese are positive steps.’’

He commended the government’s recent progress in gas development and stated support for NNPC’s aspiration to grow domestic gas usage in Nigeria to 5 billion cubic feet of gas per day from its current 1.7 billion cubic feet of gas per day by next year.

“Nigeria has launched out on a few audacious and frankly great projects to essentially drive our ambition as a country in this regard.

“Let’s find a way to make sure that we stay on course and begin to put our efforts in a consistent manner towards downstream where our country can get ultimate benefit for gas,” Okunbor said.

He also called for robust discussions on an agreeable price framework in order to attract investments in the country’s rich gas sector.

According to him, a robust pricing framework will be very helpful to unlock Nigeria’s proven gas reserves, especially for power, agriculture and industrial sectors.

Okunbor said the current pricing regime did not quite fit the wider framework of what the gas industry does.

“We want to incenticise methanol and fertilizer production, which is extremely important, to gear up our agricultural sector but the price regime now in that sector is lower than the kind of prices that you have for supply to the power sector and industrial establishments.

“To make domestic gas work, we do need a right price regime. It might just mean that some sectors are supported more than others that can naturally carry themselves.

“The Petroleum Industry Bill provides that framework.” Okunbor said.

He said that gas was by far more important as a catalyst for development.

The Shell Country Chair noted that with more than 200 trillion cubic feet of proven gas and having the world’s ninth largest gas reserves, Nigeria could satisfy both domestic and export markets.

He said that the nation’s full potential in gas could be attained if the right policies and processes were put in place and the country continued to drive those policies, processes and gas infrastructure. (NAN)