JUST IN : Fresh storm over Tompolo’s N48b oil pipeline contract as Gov others raise objection
Rivers State governor, Siminalayi Fubara, yesterday ignited a fresh storm over the N48 billion crude oil pipeline surveillance contract awarded to Tantita Security Services led by former militant leader, Government Ekpemepulo aka Tompolo, by the Federal Government.
The governor said in Port Harcourt that it was wrong to award such a contract to ‘one man’.
He said the decision would not achieve the objective it was meant to serve because,in his view, an individual should not have control over the assets in another’s territory.
The Ikwerre Peoples Congress (IPC) threw its weight behind the governor, saying there was no reason by the government to exclude critical stakeholders like the Ikwerre people whose land hosts a large percentage of the pipelines.
But some other Niger Delta leaders and stakeholders under the aegies of Niger Delta Indigenous Movement for Radical Change (NDIMRC) took an opposing view.
The Tompolo contract, they said, should be renewed as it has helped in checking oil theft in the region.
Fubara, who mentioned no name, told a high powered Federal Government delegation led by National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu, that “Security of pipeline should not be given to one man or one person.”
He said: “How can someone from Kalabari
Rivers State governor, Siminalayi Fubara, yesterday ignited a fresh storm over the N48 billion crude oil pipeline surveillance militant leader, Government Ekpemepulo aka Tompolo, by the Federal Government.
The governor said in Port Harcourt that it was wrong to award such a contract to ‘one man’.
He said the decision would not achieve the objective it was meant to serve because,in his view, an individual should not have control over the assets in another’s territory.
The Ikwerre Peoples Congress (IPC) threw its weight behind the governor, saying there was no reason by the government to exclude critical stakeholders like the Ikwerre people whose land hosts a large percentage of the pipelines.
But some other Niger Delta leaders and stakeholders under the aegies of Niger Delta Indigenous Movement for Radical Change (NDIMRC) took an opposing view.Read Also: Nigeria’s GDP rises to 2.51% in Q2 2023
The Tompolo contract, they said, should be renewed as it has helped in checking oil theft in the region.
Fubara, who mentioned no name, told a high powered Federal Government delegation led by National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu, that “Security of pipeline should not be given to one man or one person.”
He said: “How can someone from Kalabari be controlling the pipeline in Ogoni? There is no way it will work.
“We must look at bringing all the key people in the various communities.
“Two of our sons from Bayelsa and Akwa Ibom are heading the ministry of petroleum. We don’t want them to fail. We must give them the necessary support.”
He advised the delegation to engage the right people to get the right information.
Fubara spoke of how Rivers State under the immediate past governor, Nyesom Wike waged a war against illegal refining of crude oil ,and vowed that his own administration would do no less.
Ribadu said his team was mandated by President Bola Tinubu to put an end to crude oil theft and illegal refining of petroleum products.
Also on the tour schedule of the delegation are other states in the Niger Delta.
The team also comprises Defence Minister Muhammed Badaru; Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle; Minister of State (Oil), Petroleum Resources, Heineken Lokpobiri; Minister of State (Gas), Petroleum Resources, Ekperipe Ekpo; Chief of Defense Staff, General Christopher Gwabin Musa and the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt Gen Taoreed Lagbaja.
Fubara’s stance received instant support from the Ikwerre Peoples Congress (IPC) whose Chairman, Livingstone Wechie wondered why other critical stakeholders like the Ikwerre ethnic nationality were not part of the surveillance contract even when a large percentage of the pipelines crisscross their land.
“Whereas we have no objection to the award of the contracts to stakeholders such as Government Ekpemupolo a.k.a Tompolo and the company allegedly linked to the Olu of Warri, because they are stakeholders as of right, it is our view that the federal government’s distribution formula for this opportunity isolates critical stakeholders like the Ikwerre ethnic nationality, whose youngsters have always on record cooperated with the Federal Government in assisting to voluntarily protect oil and gas installations in the region domiciled in Ikwerre land to avert sabotage,” he said.
He added:”For the records, Ikwerres are the highest contributors of land hosting Federal Government institutions and critical national oil and gas installations in the Niger Delta region including other resources to the Nigerian state with more than 300 functional oil wells both on land and sea and this is not in dispute.
“There are thousands of oil pipelines and numerous oil and gas facilities crisscrossing the length and breadth of Ikwerre land in Rivers State yet in all the considerations of the Federal Government as regards oil and gas economic opportunities, the Federal Government looks away from such a people who have chosen not to be violent in their approach but play as partners of development with the Federation Government, particularly, under the thriving administration of President Bola Tinubu
