resolve all contending issues and reopen the oil facility.
Governor Wike also directed the Secretary to the Rivers State
Government, Dr Tammy Danagogo to convene a meeting of all key
stakeholders in the presence of Security Service Commanders , for the
host communities to outline their grievances to Shell Petroleum
Development Company (SPDC) and for the company to address such
development concerns.
Governor Wike spoke at a meeting with the management of the SPDC,
Belemaoil Limited, Host Community Leaders and Security Service
Commanders at the Government House Port Harcourt on Saturday.
Traditional Rulers, Elected Leaders, Youth Leaders and Chairmen of
Community Development Committees from Kula, Belema, Offoin-Ama, Opu-Kula
and Ibiame of Akuku-Toru Local Government Area attended the meeting.
Addressing the meeting, Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike said
he called the meeting because the closure of OML 25 is negatively
affecting Federal, State and Local Government funds.
He said: “OML 25 has been shutdown for one reason or the other. Some
persons in the community are hauling insults at me. No matter the
insult, nothing will make me not to perform my duty to the area.
“The Federal Government, the State Government and the Local Government
are losing funds with the continued closure of the OML 25. If Shell is
behaving wrongly, tell them and if Belemaoil is behaving wrongly,
tell them.
“It is wrong for anyone to say that the Federal Government is handling
the matter. When conflicts of this nature affect the communities, it
is for the State and Local Government Area to resolve them”.
Governor Wike said he has no hand in the drilling of oil or the
issuance of licenses, but he is committed to peace and security in
communities for the development of the state.
He said that the issue is on the economic development of the host
communities, Rivers State and Nigeria and should not be politicised.
Speaking at the meeting, Managing Director of Shell Petroleum
Development Company, SPDC, Mr Osagie Okunbor said that the company
operates the OML 25, with the operating license renewed by the Federal
Government for another 20 years.
He said: “We operated in a cordial environment until 10th August, 2017
when some community people entered the facility. The information that
was given to us was that they were unhappy over issues of social
amenities and employment . We listened and we were keen to address these
issues.
“But at some point another element entered the equation, which was that
we should relinquish and hand over to Belema Oil, that is from the
community “.
The Managing Director of Shell Petroleum Development Company said that
the company has since paid all necessary fees for the renewed OML 25 in
October 2018.
“We have made all the payments and it is our facility. We are keen to
return to the facility and operate for the benefit of all. I have
made myself available to talk to many of the stakeholders from the
communities to try and understand what the issues are and how we will
go about resolving them”, he said.
He welcomed the intervention of the Rivers State Governor. He noted that
Shell Petroleum Development Company is prepared to address the social
amenities, empowerment and other issues raised by the host
communities.
In his remarks at the meeting, Acting Managing Director of Belema Oil,
Mr Mufa Welch denied the involvement of the company in the closure of
OML 25, but stated that the host communities prefer Belema Oil to take
over.
He, however, admitted that SPDC are the licenced operators of OML 25,
describing Belema Oil as stakeholders with 3 percent share. According
to him, the people prefer Belema Oil because of the way it operates OML
55 which it inherited from Chevron.
“With the way we operate, the communities are bent towards us. The
communities love the way we operate and the way we do things. That OML
has been closed for almost two years. We have nothing in the shutdown
of the OML . But the communities are bent towards us, the way we do
things”, he said.
Chairman of Akuku-Toru Local Government Area, Mr Rowland Sekibo said
Belema Oil management created the impression that they bought the OML 25
from Shell Petroleum Development Company, but the company refused to
transfer the operational right. He said that a meeting with
stakeholders at NNPC Abuja, it was discovered that the license of OML
25 was still under the ownership of Shell.
He said though the owner of Belema Oil is from the area, it was illegal
to shutdown the oil production facility in order to arm twist the
system to sell it to Belema Oil. He said such action would negatively
affect other Rivers businessmen with oil operating licenses in other
states.
He informed that in the Global Memorandum Of understanding, Shell has
already deposited N960million in account for the development of the
communities. He said if that fund is deployed, it will transform the
host communities.
Also speaking, Hope Osusingi, the Amanyanabo of Opu-Kula said that the
people of the Area were initially misled into shutting down OML 25. He
said that after some stakeholders discovered that in reality the
operating license of SPDC had been renewed, they resolved to tow the
path of economic development.