Shola Oyeyipo in Abuja
A lawmaker in the House of Representatives, Hon. Hon. Doctor Farah Dagogo, representing Degema/Bonny federal constituency, Rivers State, has warned that an alleged plan by Total Group to relocate its servicing companies located in Egina Offshore Field, Onne to Ladol Yard in Lagos State will create unemployment in oil-rich Rivers State.
Dagogo, in a statement Tuesday said the move would aggravate the already worsened unemployment situation in Rivers State, and the Niger Delta region at large.
The Egina offshore field, which has the capacity to add 200, 000 barrels per day to Nigeria’s oil production at optimal capacity is presently located in Rivers State.
Dagogo therefore tasked the federal government and the state government to intervene to avoid what he tagged “unwarranted relocation,” of the oil servicing company.
He said to address this, he had prepared a motion to be presented on the floor of the House of Representatives when it resumes from its recess, which would make it mandatory for International Oil Companies (IOCs), as well as the sector regulators and investment vehicle, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), to locate their head offices only in states where they explore and exploit crude.
According to him, “I foresaw this scenario that was why I had a motion to that effect. Unfortunately, it couldn’t be presented on the floor of the House of Representatives before we went on recess. It will definitely be presented after our recess.
“In the interim, there is need for the federal government and the Rivers State government to step in now because I have credible information that the relocation of the servicing companies working on Egina Offshore Field, Onne, Rivers State by Total Group to Ladol Yard in Lagos State is at an advanced stage.
“We all know what this relocation portends to the volatile Niger Delta region. We need to do away with this our unbridled attitude of being reactive instead of proactive to issues of this magnitude. We should not wait for the problem to come before we start investing avoidable logistics to resolve it. We should prevent it and this is one of those.
“How could these IOCs and the sectors regulatory and investment vehicle, DPR and NAPIMS respectively abandon the areas and states they explore and exploit crude for a supposedly safe haven. I surmise they could not stand the deprivation and bastardisation of the environments they get their huge revenue from.
“For me, this relocation is one too many and this current one being pushed by TOTAL Group will be swiftly resisted.”
