President Olusegun Obasanjo has instructed that all negotiations for development projects with oil-producing communities in the Niger Delta should henceforth be conducted under the leadership of relevant State Governments, not by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Niger Delta Development Commission, oil companies or individuals.
President Obasanjo gave the directives at the State House, on September 28, during a meeting aimed at improving the atmosphere for oil operations and checking the haphazard attempts at resolving any grievances from the oil producing communities.
The President said negotiations must be streamlined, with particular States identified as executing agencies for any agreements that are reached, in order to ensure implementation and maintenance of any facilities provided.
“NNPC, NDDC or the oil companies will provide their quota for the implementation of projects, but they cannot lead negotiations because they will not maintain these infrastructure in the long run”, he stated
President Obasanjo said every part of Nigeria would be provided with the basic necessities of life, regardless of the cost, “because God has put us together and provided the necessary resources to meet the needs of all of us”.
The meeting agreed that all negotiations with oil-producing communities in Bayelsa and Delta States should be led by the respective Secretaries to the State Governments, while negotiations in Rivers State would be led by the Deputy Speaker, State House of Assembly and the Commissioner of Information. It was also agreed that the NNPC, NDDC and oil companies would participate as observers.
The meeting was attended by the Governors of Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, and Rivers States, as well as the Minister of State for Petroleum, Group Managing Director of NNPC and Senator Diffa.