The Ijaw Publishers’ Forum (IPF) has said the Niger Delta region will no longer entertain the drilling of more Oil wells following the increase in demand for more crude supply in the country.
This is coming on the heels of a news report by the ThisDay Newspaper on 4th January 2025 where the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) said the country needs 123.48 million barrels of crude for the Dangote, Port Harcourt, Warri and other functional refineries in the country.
NUPRC therefore demanded that the country needs to carry out more drilling of oil wells to meet both foreign and domestic demands.
But the IPF in a statement by its National President, Comr. Ozobo Austin insisted that the Niger Delta region has not benefited from producing crude oil with which Nigeria economically subsists.
He said, instead, the region has been left to endure poverty and neglect including environmental pollution and degredation and its attendant effects.
He thus said there will be no drilling of more oil wells in the Niger Delta region except there is call for dialogue for the ownership of the wells.
His words, “We are saying it unequivocally that Niger Delta no longer want the federal government to continue to drill more oil wells in the Niger Delta, except that there will be a dialogue for the oil ownership in Niger Delta.”
The IPF further expressed disappointment that until now, natural resources like gold and bitumen in Zamfara and other northern states are regarded as private resources for the indigenes despite their high economic values.
According to the group, if gold, iron ore, lithium, coal, granite and other natural resources in Zamfara and other northern states belong to the indigenes, then Oil and Gas resources in the Niger Delta belong to the people of the Niger Delta.
IPF called on the ‘Niger Delta States governors, federal lawmakers, rights bodies, traditional rulers and other well meaning stakeholders in the region to educate the federal government to jettison the idea of drilling more oil wells for the overall interest of both parties.’
