A correlation of Rivers oil and gas host communities has rejected the signing of the petroleum industry bill into law by president Buhari.
The chairman of the correlation Barituka Loanyie in an interview with our reporter said it is wrong for president Buhari to sign the bill into law without resolving the issues raised by the people of the Niger Delta and neglecting the outcry by the people of the South-South region.
According to Mr. Loanyie, they rejected the bill because it does not scratch where it is itching them. Adding that it is complete injustice. He said if the solid minerals act can provide better protections for communities in the extraction site, then why will the case of PIB be different.
Mr. Loanyie called on the federal government to merge the petroleum industry bill (PIB), with the solid mineral Act into a single document to be called Extractive Mineral Resources Development Bill (EMRDB)
He further explained that the solid minerals act provide for the establishment of the environmental protection and rehabilitation fund to guarantee the environmental obligation of mining companies. He said that the fund ensures the restoration of any damaged environment in cause of mining activities. But the oil and gas host communities were denied that right.
The Ikwerre people’s Congress has joined in condemning president Buhari for the signing of the petroleum industry bill. The group described the signing of the industry bill as one of the most grieviance assault on the people of the Niger Delta Region.
The chairman of the Ikwerri people’s Congress Livingstone Wechie says the new law will further pave a way for the marginalisation of the region that sustain the country’s economy.
Mr Livingstone Wechie stressed that any law that is unacceptable to the people upon whom it will bind may not get the desired results of sustainable development. He also said that it was expected that the federal government including the National Assembly should have used the opportunity of the PIB to cure some of the injuries caused by the Land Used Act and the Petroleum Act respectively, where all the natural resources and assets of the Niger Delta were sequester, living the region totally impoverished.
