CSOs Back Redeployment Of Staff Of Some Agencies

Coalition of Civil Society Organisations yesterday said they are in support of the redeployment of some personnel of the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), adding that the redeployment is in the good interest of the country.

The spokesperson of the CSO  Shina Loremikan, who stated this at a press briefing along with  its members, Rasaq Oladosu, Declan Ikehaire, Funmi Jolade-Ajayi, Kehinde Adigun said such moves will help to create room for accountability, productivity and save cost.

According to them, the mandate of NUPRC is ensuring compliance with petroleum laws, regulations and guidelines, monitoring of operations at drilling sites, producing wells, production platforms and flow stations, crude oil export terminals, and all pipelines carrying crude oil and natural gas, supervising operations being carried out under licenses and leases.

He stated that part of its responsibility is monitoring operations to ensure that they are in line with national goals and aspirations, saying, “ the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission, NUPRC, occupies a very influential position in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.”

Loremikan noted that the agency performs numerous roles in the petroleum sector and the redeployment was to allow it perform optimally.

He explained that part of its duty is to maintain records on upstream petroleum operations, particularly on matters relating to petroleum reserves, production.

He said part of its duty is processing public policies while processing upstream petroleum–related applications for leases, licenses and permits as well as ensuring timely and accurate payments of Rents, Royalties and other revenues due to the government from upstream petroleum operations while administering the National Data Repository (NDR).

Loremikan said that rather than appreciate move taken by the organisation  to redeploy some of staff in order to enhance efficiency, people who are conversant with its role have decided to politicise the redeployment of some of its personnel.’’