A former House of Representatives member for Ogbaru federal constituency of Anambra State, Hon Victor Afam Ogene, has faulted the composition of the proposed state Oil and Gas Development Committee, alleging exclusion of the main oil producing communities in Ogbaru from the committee.
In an interview with LEADERSHIP, the ex-federal lawmaker listed the main oil producing communities in the state as Ogwuaniocha and Ogwuikpele communities, both of which he noted are in Ogbaru local government area, pointing out that out of the 11 oil wells that qualified Anambra as an oil producing state, eight are sited in both communities; yet nobody from the communities was found worthy of inclusion in the committee.
Ogene rather urged the governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, to revisit the composition of the committee arguing that “It is unfair and unlawful to exclude people from the main oil producing communities because such action negates the objective of the Petroleum Industry Act.”
Meanwhile, the state government had already announced that Governor Soludo would on Tuesday, December 13, inaugurate the members of the Anambra State Oil and Gas Development Committee.
But Ogene, who is also the 2023 House of Representatives candidate of the Labour Party, in Ogbaru, argued that, “While that’ll be considered a great news for our dear state, Anambra – that is gradually taking its place in the comity of oil producing states in Nigeria – the obvious exclusion of the main host communities: Ogwuaniocha and Ogwuikpele, both in Ogbaru local government area, remains a disrespectful anomaly that runs contrary to the recently signed Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), that prioritises oil host community engagement and inclusion.
“The PIA describes host communities as communities ‘situated in or appurtenant to the area of operation of a settlor and any other community as a settlor may determine.”
He argued that although “there are two Ogbaru sons in the Committee, the Commissioner for Information and one other, the non-inclusion of anyone from the twin communities of Ogwuaniocha and Ogwuikpele, is not only unjust but a development that might give oxygen to future bickering and rancour which Anambra doesn’t need at this period.
Ogene therefore called on Governor Soludo to urgently look into the exclusion, with a view to ensuring that both Ogwuaniocha and Ogwuikpele are properly represented in the Committee for the overall interest of the state and mutual goodwill.
