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Controversy over N98bn oil pollution fund in Niger Delta
Some oil producing communities in the Niger Delta region have expressed displeasure over the delay in the payment of the alleged N98 billion oil pollution compensation fund promised by the Federal Government.
Speaking with a cross-section of some community heads in the region they confided in The Nation that the monies were approved during the twilight of the then President Goodluck Jonathan administration and was expected to be paid by President Muhammadu Buhari after due diligence was conducted.
But that was not to be as the government white paper on the payment was still gathering dust on the shelves, the community heads lamented.
Confirming this development, Chief Prof. Jasper Jumbo, Chairman/CEO, Niger Delta Projects Consortium Limited, while fielding question from our correspondent on the sidelines of the “Stakeholders Forum on The Environment” facilitated by the Institute of Directors Nigeria (IoD) Port Harcourt chapter, recently, recalled that he was part of those who drafted the recommendations made by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)which suggested some form of compensation to be paid by oil companies to communities affected by oil spillage.
Specifically, Prof. Jumbo said the agreed levies and compensation the federal government was meant to pay the affected communities in the oil-rich Niger Delta was over N98billion, but which it is yet to pay almost seven years later.
Such delay, the elderstatesman noted, was not in the best interest of the people of the region as it negates the principle of equity and fairness and in fact could precipitate crisis in the region if not handled with tact and diplomacy.
“With the general insecurity in the country the delay in the disbursement of the oil spill compensation fund is a trigger any day,” he warned, adding that it was better to prevent a breakdown of law and order by ensuring that due compensations are paid to the affected communities.
It may be recalled that Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, on behalf of President Muhammadu Buhari, in August 2017 set in motion a $1 billion clean-up and restoration programme of the Ogoniland region in the Niger Delta, announcing that financial and legislative frameworks had been put in place to begin implementing recommendations made by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
Besides, it recommended the creation of an Environmental Restoration Fund (ERF) for Ogoniland with a capital of $1bn, to be co-funded by the federal government, Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Shell.
A year later, the Nigerian government established the Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project (HYPREP), an agency under the ministry of the environment with the mandate to implement the environmental clean-up programme in Ogoniland.
In 2016, the government then launched a $1bn clean-up and restoration programme of the Ogoniland, with $200m to be released every year.
The cleanup exercise later took off in 2019, eight years after UNEP’s recommendation.
Checks by our correspondent revealed that so far, $360m has been released to HYPREP out of which less than $30m has been spent, making cleanup slow.
Meanwhile, the federal government says it is prepared to regain lost time occasioned by a slip in achieving some timelines in the implementation of the UNEP Report.
-The Nation
News
Yahaya Bello govt spending third term in office through Ododo – Clark
Yahaya Bello govt spending third term in office through Ododo – Clark
Elder statesman, Chief Edwin Clark, says the former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, administration was nothing to write home about.
This is even as he asked the embattled former governor to surrender himself to the authorities.
Bello has been in the news for days on end over money laundering and financial impropriety.
He was declared wanted after he evaded the economic and financial crimes commission (EFCC) who had stormed his Abuja residence to apprehend him.
Speaking on Bello’s time as the governor of the middle belt state, Clark, who is the leader of the Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, stated that state sponsored violence, corruption, civilian repression and political killings were rife when Bello was in office.
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Clark also pointed out that Bello is still running the show in Kogi state as he is currently spending third term in power through the incumbent governor, Ododo, who he planted in office.
“Yahaya Bello is just being stubborn. He has been living very very rough…having a very rough government, corruption, killing of people in the place during elections and so on,” Clark said during an interview on Arise TV on Thursday.
“There’s time for everything and it has come for him to answer questions. He should go to court. He should go to court to answer the substance of the case, where did he get the money from?
“Is it true or not that the money he paid to the American school belongs to him or belongs to the government of Kogi State?
“The behaviour of the new Governor shows Yahaya Bello is in power for the third time. Ahmed Ododo is just running after him.
“I just want to plead with Ododo to do the needful so that the youth in this country will have something to fall upon.”
Yahaya Bello govt spending third term in office through Ododo – Clark
News
‘Unfounded accusation’ – Obi slams Umahi over instigation of Igbo against Tinubu claim
‘Unfounded accusation’ – Obi slams Umahi over instigation of Igbo against Tinubu claim
Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections, Peter Obi, says he is not in the business of whipping up ethnic sentiments or amplifying Nigeria’s fault lines to gain socio-political mileage.
Obi said this reaction to comment made by the Minister of Works, David Umahi, at an event on Wednesday on the Lagos-Calabar road project.
Obi has been vocal in his criticism of the road project, calling it a misplaced priority as it is not what Nigeria needs at a time of lean resources and plethora of challenges begging for drastic solution.
Umahi while speaking at the event said Obi’s position on the Lagos-Calabar coastal road project amounted to pitting Nigerians of Eastern extraction, who are majorly Igbos, against the government of President Bola Tinubu.
He also accused Obi of demolishing property without compensating those affected when he was Anambra governor, Obi was inciting South Easterners against the government
“When His Excellency Peter Obi was the governor. He made a statement saying, “Any infrastructure that stands in the way of the road must go. And there would be no compensation paid.” That’s what he said,” Umahi said.
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“And I think he’s inciting some of the South-East people that are not well informed. He is inciting them. And gets them into trouble,” he added
Reacting to Umahi’s allegation of divisiveness and sedition in a statement on Wednesday, Obi opined that he is a preacher of peace and advocate of unity who always wants what is best for the country.
Obi, who described criticisms that he is inciting Igbo against Tinubu’s government as baseless, stated that he won’t wallow in the murky water of divisive ethnic politics like many of his contemporaries and opponents do.
He stated, “My focus is on fostering constructive dialogue and inclusivity, rather than engaging in divisive politics, Claims of incitement are baseless distractions. I have always advocated unity and advancement, refusing to partake in reactionary divisive politics.
“I refuse to be reduced to the level of those who wallow in ethnic politics. Worse still, I have never and can never descend so low as to base my political aspirations on any sectional or ethnic interest.”
The former Anambra governor also said there were no comparisons between the demolition he did when he was governor and what the Tinubu-led government was currently doing.
‘Unfounded accusation’ – Obi slams Umahi over instigation of Igbo against Tinubu claim
News
NDIC jacks up deposit insurance cover from N500,000 to N5m
NDIC jacks up deposit insurance cover from N500,000 to N5m
The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has announced a significant increase in the maximum deposit insurance coverage levels for Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) and other financial institutions, effective immediately.
During a press conference in Abuja on Thursday, NDIC Managing Director Bello Hassan disclosed, “For Deposit Money Banks, the increase of the maximum deposit insurance coverage from N500,000 to N5,000,000, would provide full coverage of 98.98% of the total depositors compared with the current cover of 89.20%. In terms of the value of deposit covered, the revised coverage would increase the value of deposits covered by deposit insurance to 25.37% compared with the current cover of 6.31% of the total value of deposits.”
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Hassan further explained, “The increase of the maximum deposit insurance coverage for primary mortgage banks from N500,000 to N2,000,000 would provide full coverage of 99.99% of the total number of depositors and would increase the value of deposits covered by deposit insurance to 43.10% of the total value deposits from the current cover of 40.60%.”
Additionally, Hassan noted, “The increase of the maximum deposit insurance coverage for subscribers of Mobile Money Operators from N500,000 to N5,000,000 per subscriber.”
NDIC jacks up deposit insurance cover from N500,000 to N5m
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