As discordant tunes continue to trail the newly passed Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), especially from the Niger Delta region, a chieftain of Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) and former governorshp aspirant, Delta State, Chief Sunny Onuesoke has described the recently passed Bill by both the Senate and House of Representative as a coup against host communities.
According to Chief Onuesoke, a stakeholder in the region, in the passed PIB Bill, the House of Representative allocated 5% to host community clause, while 30% of profit on oil would be used for frontier explorations. On the other hand, the Senate allocated three percent to host communities.
Reacting to the content of the new Bill, while addressing journalists in his office in Warri, Onuesoke argued that the content of the PIB Bill was a ploy to further rob the south that produce the oil and pay the north that doesn’t produce a single drop of oil.
He pointed out that it is worrisome that the National Assembly cut down compensations payment for Host communities from 5% to 3% against the cries of southern senators and redefined host community to mean any community that oil pipeline passes through.
Onuesoke, further disclosed that the National Assembly came up with Fraudulent jargon called “Frontier Exploration” for which they have earmarked 30% of NNPC profits for the servicing of these Frontier Explorations yearly.
According to him, “By implication, host communities will now imply all states that don’t produce oil, but have oil pipeline passing through it which automatically makes some Northern states that don’t produce oil to become host communities and henceforth benefit from compensations.
“Mind you, all the so called Frontier Exploration projects are domiciled in the North : – Chad basin, Borno etc. So automatically, 30% or more (totally about 48%) of NNPC profits will be going to the North that do not produce a single drop of oil, while the remaining will be shared by the Federating States.”
The PDP Chieftain said he is disturbed that while many Southern Senators failed to stop this robbery of a bill on the floor of NASS, many Southern Nigerians are busy celebrating the passage of the fraudulent PIB because they do not know the content of the bill.
He noted that once this PIB Bill is ratified on the Joint session of Senate and Representative, it would automatically becomes a law President Muhammadu Buhari would gladly signs off and from thence, the North would fight tooth and nail to resist any attempt to amend it.
Onuesoke, advised Southerners to call their Lawmakers at the NASS to reject the ratification of that PIB and call for proper amendment before ratification when they have joint session.
“This sham Bill must be stopped at all cost before it gets to President Muhammadu Buhari who is eagerly waiting to sign it sharp, sharp. As at last count, pipeline to Kaduna refinery and the new $1 billion dollars gas pipeline Federal Government is doing to ten Northern cities pass through 320 northern communities.
“This therefore means that these people will come and be sharing equal amount with Niger Deltans who are suffering oil pollution. This is injustice and tribalism taken too far,” he lamented.
The PDP Chieftain maintained that the host communities deserved fair treatment as it had suffered long years of environmental pollution and injustice despite producing the wealth that had sustained the health of Nigeria.
He equally lamented that increasing the percentage for more petroleum reserves in the “frontier basin” to 30 per cent as well as redefining the meaning of host communities to include communities where oil pipelines pass through were disgusting and provocative.
He therefore urged the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), to refrain from appending his signature to the PIB until the National Assembly prescribed 10 per cent.
