Imported User:
A legislator has condemned the advocates of new revenue sharing formula stressing that they are unfair to the people in the oil producing areas of the country.
Speaking with reporters, the law- maker said that the present sharing formula was unfair because it negates the principle of natural justice as it adversely affects the people of the oil producing areas in the country.
He said rather than call for the review of the sharing formula, the agitators should have called for resource control which would allow the owners of mineral resources to effectively develop their areas.
The lawmaker who is also the Chairman, House Committee of Ondo State Oil Producing Area Development Corporation (OSOPADEC), wondered why everything in the country was about oil, adding that there were precious stones being extracted in the Northern part of the country and nobody was talking about it.
Hon. Edema explained that the oil spillage in the riverine communities has depleted the volume of fishes in the high sea to the disadvantage of the of fishermen.
‘’Can you imagine that we don’t even get fuel to buy for N97.00 per litre, here the cheapest is N100 per litre . Now if a fisherman buys 25litres to go and fish on the high sea the tendency is that he may return without getting anything because the oil spillage has destroyed the aquatic lives. What this means is that the poor fishermen in the revering community are made poorer because of oil exploration in his community,’’ he said.
The lawmaker said that there was nothing to show for the huge resources provided for the nation by the oil producing communities and that the time has come for the country to consider the plight off the innocent people in those areas.
