CSO Accuses FG of Withholding N1tn Gas Flare Fines

Chineme Okafor in Abuja
The federal government has been accused by a civil society organisation (CSO), the Centre for Peace and Environmental Justice (CEPEJ) of withholding gas flare penalty amounting to over N1 trillion, which it said was meant for communities in the Niger Delta.

The National Coordinator of CEPEJ, Mr. Sherriff Mulade, also told journalists during a press briefing yesterday in Abuja that the three per cent statutory levy paid by oil companies to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), over the years, had not been utilised for the benefit of the region but had been diverted by politicians in most cases.

“In the gas flare penalties paid to the federal government amounting to about N1 trillion, we are shocked that up till this moment, none of this money has been released to the communities, and I believe this is mainly because none of these communities have the capacity to agitate for this fund,“ said Mulade.

He, however, stated that CEPEJ was aware of the challenges of the communities as regards accessing the gas flare penalty funds, and explained that it was putting in place machineries to challenge the government on this and ensure that the funds were released to the communities directly, and not through a commission.
According to him: “This is because most of the commissions set up are politically-inclined and are used by politicians to compensate their friends.”

Mulade, also said a conference with the theme, ‘sustainable security and environment in the Niger Delta: a key to Nigeria development,’ was being planned by CEPEJ in Edo state in November, and that it would deliberate on the refusal of the government to release the gas flare penalty money and other issues that affect the Niger Delta region.
Also speaking on the gas flare penalty, Director of Mobilisation,Independent Service Delivery Monitoring Group (ISDMG), Mrs. Faith Nwadishi, accused international oil companies (IOCs) of failing to pay their penalty for gas flaring.
Nwadishi, said the amount owed by the IOCs as penalties for gas flare had risen to over N2.3 trillion.

She further stated that the country is losing huge sums of money over its refusal to implement its laws on gas flaring.
“We keep talking about the money that has been paid, we are not talking about the over N2.3 trillion that is yet to be paid by the oil companies. Reports have it that we are losing a lot of money. Nigeria is not implementing its laws on gas flaring. Companies are not paying what they are supposed to pay. That is also because we are charging peanuts. Nigeria is charging N10 per 1,000 standard cubic feet of gas.

“At the end of the day, we as a country, we are not sincere with our gas flaring policy. Over the years, we have been shifting the goal post for the deadline to end gas flaring. There is a new date, 2020, because there is a World Bank policy which said countries should reduce gas flaring by 2030. Nigerian government has keyed into that initiative, forgetting that every year we change our goal post,” said Nwadishi.

She further said: “Again, there was a verdict in Nigeria that gave judgment to a community, declaring that gas flaring was illegal. As I talk to you, gas flaring is supposed to be illegal, because the court in Benin had already said it is so. Meanwhile, despite the judgment, we still continue to flare gas. We have over N2.3 trillion that is yet to be paid.”