Senate Asks Commission To Sanction Oil Firms Neglecting Host Communities

The Senate Committee on Host Communities has charged the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) with taking stringent measures against International Oil Companies (IOCs) that fail to adhere to the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) provisions on setting up and implementing the Host Communities Development Trust (HCDT).

It acknowledged reduced hostility in the oil industries and relative peace in the Niger Delta region due to the achievements of the PIA through HCDT.

The committee chairman, Senator Benson Agadaga, stated this during the inauguration of seven key projects by Total Energies at the Obagi Oilfield Host Communities Development Trust (HCDT) in OML58 in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni local government area of Rivers State.

The projects, which spanned infrastructure, health facilities, agriculture, livelihood support , human capacity development, economic empowerment, among others were sequel to the establishment of the HCDTs under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, which placed communities at the center of development planning and execution.

Accordingly, the execution of the projects by Total Energies aligns with the implementation of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

“Host communities are no longer as hostile as before because all of us are expecting that the PIA will give us the required dividends and we are seeing them”

“There is a pronouncement on the PIA for IOCs to set up the HCDT and where they fail to do so after three months, they will be sanctioned. Those who have not done it will be sanctioned because this is the only hope of peace and stability in the oil-producing areas.

“We no longer want disruptions in our production. We need maximum production, and we need to meet targets of at least two million barrels per day, so we don’t want any interruptions,” Agadaga said.

He challenged other host community development trusts, which have yet to implement theirs, to emulate what the Obagi HCDT has done.

The River State deputy governor, Prof. Ngozi Odu, who is from the area, recalled the challenges faced by the people, especially poor infrastructure before the implementations of the projects.

She applauded Total Energies and its partners for implementing the PIA and thanked President Bola Tinubu and members of the National Assembly for creating the enabling environment for achieving such milestones.

A resident in Obagi, Philomina Chinagorom, said women suffered a lot due to a lack of access to health facilities, expressing delight that the newly constructed health facilities would ease their pains and improve their health.

Giving a breakdown of the projects, the managing director of Total Energies EP Nigeria Limited, Matthieu Bouyer, said within the Community Development Plan (CDP) of the HCDT, a total of 539 projects were identified and approved for implementation across 64 host communities

He said that of the number, the seven projects inaugurated were embodiments of priorities identified by the community as captured in the CDP and executed by the Board of Trustees and Management Committee, chosen by their people.

For his part, the executive commissioner of NUPRC, Capt. John Tonlagha (rtd), described the projects as a true representation of wisdom, accountability and diligence.