The presidential directive to the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company Limited (NPDC) to take over operation of the entire Oil Mining Lease (OML) 11 from Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) has been denounced by the Ogoni people.Professionals are also worried that the planned takeover from SPDC not later than April 30, 2019, blatantly undermines due process as stipulated by extant regulations, disregards the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the board of Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), as well as other parties involved.

Consequently, the Ogoni people are warning that any attempt to resume crude oil and gas production using the takeover as a smokescreen, without addressing fundamental issues that led to the Ogoni struggle would be stoutly resisted. Other critical stakeholders, who equally see the development as an illegality that must be challenged in the law court say they smell a rat for such an order to be generated from the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President, as against the Ministry of Petroleum that has the statutory authority.

According to them, by overriding the board of the NNPC chaired by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, they have validated the power play, which has reportedly prevents him from taking key decisions, consequently limiting the growth of the sector.

OML 11 is regarded as one of Nigeria’s most important oil assets, containing 33 oil and gas fields. Eight are reportedly producing. The lease is currently being operated by a Joint Venture of which the NNPC owns 55 per cent, Shell 30 per cent, Total 15 per cent, and Agip five per cent.

It is governed by a Joint Operating Agreement (JOA). Any JOA has two types of parties: The operator and non-operators. The operator is the leader of the consortium, as this is the person responsible for conducting the daily operations in the name of the consortium. For decisions to be made, the parties must jointly reach a consensus.

A memo signed by the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari, dated March 1, 2019 with reference number SH/COS/24/A/8540, directed the corporation to take over OML 11 from Shell. The letter directed “NNPC/NPDC to take over the operatorship, from Shell Petroleum Development Company, of the entire OML 11 not later than 30 April 2019 and ensure smooth re-entry given the delicate situation in Ogoni Land.

“NNPC/NPDC to confirm by May 2, 2019 the assumption of the operatorship,” the memo stated. The development is coming over two decades after the fields, which was turning out over 28, 000 barrels of oil per day were shut following the killing of Ken Saro Wiwa and others.

The former chairman of the Movement for Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) Council, Prof. Ben Naanen, told The Guardian that some politically exposed persons who are trying to hijack the operation and eventually take up the concession of the Joint Venture partners represented by Shell were behind the presidential directive. Naanen recalled how he resisted pressure to support the transfer of OML 11 to NPDC as MOSOP’s provisional chairman, adding that the unfolding scenario may be the thin end of the wedge.

According to him, a number of Nigerian companies backed by some powerful political forces have been pressurising the government to use NPDC to grab OML 11, which he described as one of the most important oil blocks in Nigeria.“I think some people want to use NPDC as a front to hijack OML 11. That is the game we are seeing here. A number of Nigerian companies have quietly being pressurising the system. When I was chairman of provisional council, some interests wanted OML 11 to be given to NPDC and that is what is happening now. But we do know that these people wanted more by using NPDC as a front.”

Similarly, the founder of Ogoni Solidarity Forum, Celestine Akpobari, said the presidential directive might also be informed by government’s perception that relationship between Ogoni people and Shell have become irreconcilable and if OML 11 is allowed to be in Shell’s name, it will remain a wasted asset. Hence, the decision of President Muhammdu Buhari to end that challenge once and for all.

Akpobari also disclosed that there have been speculations that the Presidency wants to remove licenses from private individuals and return oil blocks to government. If this were true, he said the government must bear in mind that oil business in Ogoni Land did not just shutdown, but was as a result of a struggle, which culminated in the death of Ken Saro-Wiwa and other Ogoni leaders. He urged the government to resist the temptation of resuming crude oil and gas production in Ogoni Land without first reviewing the tribunal trial of Saro-Wiwa and others, just as it should be willing to address the legitimate demands of the Ogoni people as contained in the Ogoni Bill of Rights.

•Excerpted from The Guardian report

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