Olusegun Samuel in Yenagoa
In line with the directives of President Muhammadu Buhari to set up cooperative societies for intending artisanal refineries in the Niger Delta region, the Project with Artisanal Crude Oil Refiners (PACOR) last Tuesday inaugurated three cooperative societies in Bayelsa State.
Known as the Bayelsa West, Central and East Modular Refinery Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society Limited, they will act as the authentic platforms of the real artisanal crude oil refiners in the state.
Inaugurating the committee, facilitator of PACOR, Fyneface Dumnamene, said the inauguration was in line with President Buhari’s directives on January 10, 2020, that Niger Deltans should put artisanal refinery in the region with operating cooperate society platforms up to receive licenses for modular refinery.
Dumnamene, who is also the executive director, Youth and Environmental Advocacy Centre (YEAC) said the centre have been advocating for the initiative since 2017, and they are happy that the president accepted and directed them to formed it into cooperatives for licenses approval.
He said: “The cooperative you see today is the platform to drive this process for the modular refinery to be set up. Local and international partners are coming, companies that are into businesses will partner them, the blue print will be designed and people will come in as business partners.
“These are the authentic platforms of the real artisanal crude oil refiners, who have stopped and embraced your policy on modular refineries as alternatives means of livelihood in Bayelsa State. In the days ahead, we will inaugurate and also present to you, modular refinery cooperative societies in other Niger Delta states.
“The cooperative will have a constitution, a memorandum of understanding (MoU), and everything will be done according to the law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Whatever investment that is going to be made is not going to anybody’s pocket, it will go into an account that people that have control over will manage and use it to build the modular refinery.
“Everything is going to be done according to the law, and whoever embezzles anybody’s money will face the law of the regulatory agencies and the Economic and Financial Crime Commission as well as ensure that those who commit economic crime are sent to jail.”
While thanking President Buhari for approving their recommendation for the establishment of three modular refineries in each of the Niger Delta states, he urged him to speed up the process of granting them licences to begin operations.
He said: “It is our recommendation also that you speed up the process and also kindly consider and establish a Presidential Artisanal Crude Oil Refinery Development Initiative (PACORDI) for artisanal crude oil refiners in the Niger Delta similar to the presidential artisanal gold mining developments initiative (PAGMI) in the North and western Nigeria.
“We look forward to having you issue modular refinery licences to these cooperative societies so that they do not cite government as unserious, and return to the creeks to cause more damage to oil facilities and our fragile environment.”
The state coordinator of the cooperative societies, Philips Godfrey, said he hoped the licence would be released to the cooperatives since they are now duly registered by the federal government.
