…rejects the upward review of 30% for frontier basin exploration.
Yenagoa—The Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide has kicked against the upward review of 30% for frontier basin exploration activities and 3% for Host Community Trust fund in the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) passed by the Nigerian Senate.
This was contained in a statement signed by the IYC spokesman, Ebilade Ekerefe, and was sent to Mangrovepen.ng.
The IYC argued that it is a rape of justice for host communities to be allocated 3% by the Senate and 5% by the House of Representatives.
The group added that it is “against the unanimous 10% agreement by stakeholders of the region when the National Assembly met with the Niger Delta people.”
The statement described the action of the Senate as an injustice to the people of the region, insinuating that it is already agitating the minds of Ijaw youths.
Ebilade warns that “it is capable of threatening the already fragile peace in the region.”
He called on the Nigerian government “to realize that an interrupted oil flow in the Niger Delta region is capable of stopping the NNPC from selling the crude and getting the 30% to fund frontier explorations.”
The spokesman urged the federal government not to “compound the feelings of Niger Delta with devastating consequences,” while tasking the national assembly to “keep the host community percentage at the agreed 10%.”
According to him, “Anything less than the agreement of stakeholders reached with the National Assembly could be seen as a deliberate attempt to undermine the region which will be unacceptable.”
