The protesting Indigenes of Ugborodo, Deghele and Ugboegungun communities of Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State and a tripartite panel made up of selected representatives of Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and Chevron Nigeria Ltd (CNL), have met over the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) in Abuja.
The protesting host communities who gave 48-hour ultimatum to SPDC were requesting the registration and recognition of Otumara Host Community Development Trust for the joint implementation of the PIA by SPDC, CNL, and NUPRC as enshrined in the Act, or risk the shutdown of its operations.
The representatives of NUPRC, SPDC summoned the protesting communities of Ugborodo, Deghele, and Ugboegungun communities for a meeting which was held at the NUPRC headquarters in Abuja on August 31 and September 1, to thrash out the burning issue.
Representatives of the SPDC were Dr. (Mrs.) Alice Ajeh (Project Manager of the PIA) and Mr Odiri Iyaro (Corporate Relations Manager), those for NUPRC were Engr. Gbenga Komolafe (the Executive Director/CEO), Mallam Sanusi Lamido (Chairman of the NUPRC Panel), and Chief Benjamin Ogunjobi (Zonal Head, Warri), among others.
The eight-man delegation of the three communities was Chief Ayiri Emami, Prince Michael Diden (Ejele), Mr Mode Akoma, Mr Smart Edoema, Prince Perry Atete, Mr Isaac Botosan, Prince Yemi Emiko, and Alex Eyengho.
The NUPRC boss, Engr. Komolafe reportedly reiterated the commitment to strictly adhere to the provisions of the law. “The decision of the commission, as the only regulatory body for the implementation of the PIA, shall be strictly based on the extant laws, which are the PIA and the accompanying Regulations under the PIA,” he noted.
After hearing from all parties, Komolafe assured participants that the “Commission shall make its verdict public before the close of work on Tuesday, September 5, 2023,” adding that “Any party not satisfied thereafter is free to approach the court of law.”
Part of the requests of the representatives of the three host communities in line with the PIA’s provisions included the registration and recognition of Host Community Development Trusts (HCDTs), which are Otumara Host Communities Development Trust (Otumara-HCDT) for Ugborodo, Deghele, and Ugboegungun communities; Ikpere Host Community Development Trust (Ikpere-HCDT) for Ode-Ugborodo, Ogidigben, Ajudaibo, and Madangho; and Saghara Host Communities Development Trust (Saghara-HCDT) for Ugborodo and Ugboegungun communities.
Speaking on behalf of SPDC, Dr Mrs Ajeh was quoted as saying that her company worked closely with the Olu of Warri all through the process.
According to her, the Palace of the Olu was the clearing house for the naming of the Iwere Host Community Development Trust (Iwere-HCDT) and the nomination of members of the Board of Trustees reportedly submitted by the concerned host communities of the Iwere-HCDT, which she listed as Ode-Ugborodo, Ogidigben, Ajudaibo, Madangho, Deghele, and Ugboegungun.
She was also reported to have revealed that the Iwere-HCDT had since been registered by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and a certificate had already been issued.
A representative of CNL, Mr. Sam Daibo, when asked why his company ignored the protesting communities, he said that as a strategy for the implementation of the PIA, Chevron did it on an ethnic basis and approached the Olu of Warri, “being the only King of the Itsekiri,” to help facilitate and coordinate the entire implementation process.
He also said that was why all the meetings with the host communities and decisions were held and took place in the Palace of the Olu of Warri, adding that the Warri Kingdom Onshore Host Community Development Trust and the Warri Kingdom Offshore Host Community Development Trust were at the advanced stages of registration at the CAC, with members of the Board of Trustees nominated by the communities and approved by the Olu of Warri.
Responding to Mr Daibo’s submission, Mr Mode Akoma, said that the two names given to Chevron by the Olu of Warri were unacceptable to the protesting communities.
He, reportedly, went ahead to list the following names agreed upon by the protesting communities for Chevron onshore and offshore operations in the protesting communities: Ikpere Host Community Development Trust (Ikpere-HCDT) of Ugborodo and Ugboegungun host communities; Abiteye Host Community Development Trust (Abiteye-HCDT) of Deghele, Bateren, and Omadino communities; Concerned Coastal Community Dwellers Host Communities Development Trust (Concerned Coastal-HCDT) of 47 communities, split into six Blocks; and Concerned Deep Sea Communities Host Community Development Trust (Concerned Deep Sea-HCDT) of 47 communities, all in the Warri South-West LGA of Delta State.
Meanwhile, the lead representative of the protesting Otumara Flow Station host communities, Mr Eyengho, scolded SPDC and CNL for acting out of the law in the implementation of PIA provisions.
He said that before the team headed for Abuja for the tripartite meeting on Thursday and Friday, they had earlier, on Wednesday, “honoured the invitation of the Delta State Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, with the Secretary to the State Government, Kingsley Emu, and a few other commissioners in attendance, where the governor appealed to the protesting communities not to shut down the Shell-operated Otumara Flowstation, with a promise to meet with NUPRC, SPDC, and CNL.
Eyengho, while responding to the outcome of the meeting in Abuja, said; “Shell has thus far acted ultra vires the PIA and the Regulations in terms of implementation, in this case, the naming of the HCDT and the selection, composition, and registration of the Board of Trustees of the Iwere-HCDT,”.
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