Return repatriated £4.2m to Delta, N’Delta Agitators tell FG

By Omeiza Ajayi

Niger-Delta Nonviolence Agitators Forum, NDNAF,  has weighed in on the debate over the £4.2 million repatriated from United Kingdom, urging the Federal Government to return the money to the Delta State coffers.

The agitators also passed a vote of confidence on the Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva “for his innovations and giant strides in the petroleum and gas industry.”

They also hailed Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State for tackling youth restiveness and militancy in the region, urging Nigerians to support Federal Government efforts to rehabilitate the Port Harcourt refinery.

National President of NDNAF, Wisdom Ikuli, said, “By now, I expect the Delta State government to have gone to court. Let them follow legal means. As a parent, you can negotiate for your child, but it doesn’t mean that your child must now give you everything he acquires in life. We, however, thank the Federal Government for helping Delta State out.

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“In terms of the $1.5 billion being spent on the Port Harcourt refinery, we see it as a positive development, because it is sad that we have abundant crude oil and yet cannot refine any of it. By the time the refinery starts working, it will reduce forex flight. All we need is to work with the minister and support FG realise the project” he added.

The group noted that since the appointment of Sylva, there has been a drastic reduction in the destruction of oil facilities in the Niger Delta due to his proactive gesture in addressing critical issues which would have resulted in sabotage.

He said, “The most important is the huge investments he has attracted to the Niger Delta, chief among which are the commencement of the Nigerian Liquified Natural Gas, NLNG, Train 7 in the famous Bonny Island in Rivers State, the over $3.6billion Brass Fertilizer and Petrochemicals, the Oloibiri-Otabagi Oil and Gas Museum and Research Institute all in Bayelsa State and other massive projects and investments that he has facilitated and attracted to the Niger Delta.‘‘

“These huge investments and projects all have multiplier effects. They will not only create over 1,000 direct employments for our youths, but they will also create indirect employment for a greater number of persons. Air, road and river transportation businesses shall thrive. The same applies to hotel and hospitality businesses. But above all, the economies will boom. It will turn around the commerce and economy of our great, same with our fortunes and all areas of life. This shall translate to a drastic reduction in crime and other social vices.

“For example, the $3.6 billion  Brass Fertilizer and Petrochemical which has AMMONIA, METHANOL, GAS PROCESSING and other Components is a very huge project and investment that will absorb over 40,000 Bayelsans and other Nigerians. The positive impacts, for now, are almost indescribable because it is something that has never happened before.

“It is on the above note that we are using this rare opportunity to urge and also appeal to the Ministry of Petroleum and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC and the Brass Fertilizer and Petrochemical Company Limited to see how they can resolve the issue of 10 percent equity with the Bayelsa State Government under Senator Diri that has shown so much commitment to ensuring the smooth take-off of this laudable project that will affect and also transform all sections and segments of the state and region in general.”

Vanguard News Nigeria

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