Niger Delta Group Demands Equitable Distribution of Pipeline Surveillance Contracts

A Niger Delta advocacy group, the United Niger Delta Congress (UNDC), has asked the federal government to decentralise pipeline surveillance contracts across oil-producing communities in the region.
It said the present structure of the pipeline surveillance contract remained skewed, benefitting a few other than the major stakeholders.
It said the state of affairs was a violation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) with regards to the effective participation of host communities in protecting oil facilities located in their domain.
Speaking at a media briefing in Abuja, the National President, Julius Mallam-Obi, said the present arrangement where the pipeline security was entrusted in the hands of a few companies violates section 257 of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), which states that host communities must be directly involved in protecting oil facilities located in their ancestral lands.
He listed Tantita Security Services, Maton Engineering Nigeria Limited, and Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited (PINL) among the companies handling the pipeline surveillance contract awarded by the federal government.
Mallam-Obi said the Niger Delta, which produces the crude oil that sustains Nigeria’s economy, cannot continue to be excluded from the management and protection of the same resources.
“Pipeline protection should involve indigenous stakeholders from the ethnic nations and communities where these facilities are located.
“The present structure reflects an unhealthy concentration of opportunity and influence, leaving many oil-producing ethnic nations with little or no meaningful participation,” he said.
He said the extant pipeline security framework was fuelling resentment and undermining unity in the Niger Delta region.
The UNDC said the Niger Delta is home to several oil-producing ethnic nationalities, including the Ijaw, Isoko, Urhobo, Itsekiri, Ndokwa, Ogoni, Ibibio and Efik, noting that any system that excludes many of them from pipeline protection undermines fairness and regional stability.
Mallam-Obi said the federal government made huge financial commitment in the area of pipeline surveillance over the years, yet the nation’s crude output hovered between 1.4 million and 1.5 million barrels per day, far below the country’s production potential of over two million barrels per day.
“This contradiction raises a fundamental national question: how can Nigeria be spending billions on pipeline security while oil production continues to underperform.
“Where exactly is all the money going? Something is clearly wrong with the system,” he said.
He raised concerns about transparency and accountability in the management of surveillance contracts demanding the investigation of crude oil losses around export terminals.
Mallam-Obi called on the federal government to conduct a comprehensive audit of all pipeline surveillance contracts, publish the beneficiaries and financial scope of the agreements, and ensure equitable participation of host communities.
The UNDC president urged the senate and house of representatives to exercise their oversight powers by launching a transparent investigation into the pipeline surveillance system.
He said decentralising surveillance contracts across oil-bearing communities would strengthen intelligence gathering, improve the protection of crude infrastructure and create economic opportunities for youths and women in the region.
He recommended that at least 35 percent of surveillance opportunities be allocated to women from oil-producing communities through cooperatives and community-based enterprises.
He asserted that the group’s demands were not directed against any ethnic group but aimed at ensuring fairness, transparency and sustainable peace in the Niger Delta.