Stakeholders Demand Amendment of PIA for Criminalising Host Communities

Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt

Stakeholders in the Niger Delta have called for the immediate amendment of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021, saying that the Act only criminalises host communities and see them as subjects of oil and gas infrastructure.

The stakeholders also regretted that gas flaring in the PIA is seen as economic loss and not a health hazard, contributing  to the air poisoning for 40 million inhabitants of the Niger Delta region.

The demand was made at a town hall meeting on “The Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021: Challenges of  Environmental Pollution in Nigeria’s Delta Communities” organised by Social Development Integrated Centre (Social Action) in Port Harcourt.

Speaking  at the meeting, Executive Director of We The People, Mr. Ken Henshaw, wondered how unarmed members of  host communities would be able to protect oil installations from armed criminals and vandals, whereas NSCDC, JTF and other armed security forces have failed for over 20 years.

He explained that the PIA is only out to shortchange  the Niger Delta people and wondered who determines the operating cost of an oil company.

Henshaw said: “There is no where the oil majors have pre-informed their host communities that they are divesting. The PIA criminalises oil communities, if we accept the PIA then we are saying that we are criminals.” 

“The PIA said where the community fails to protect the oil facilities, funds will be deducted from the  three per cent meant for the host  community. The PIA treats the Niger Delta people as a subject of oil infrastructure.

“The PIA said when there is unrest, meaning that anyway the community decide to carry placards and say ‘We no go gree’ the settler can decide to claim he lost 100million barrels due to the protest and thereby deny the host community their  three per cent.

“The JIV is criminal. The helicopters, boats and vehicles and logistics used in carrying out a JIV is provided by the oil operator, how do you expect the regulators to be objective? No.

“Fines from gas flaring is actually an additional revenue to the government, not to the host communities who suffer acid rain, cancer and other health impact.

“The PIA only sees gas flaring as an economic losses and not health poisoning of 40 million people in the Niger Delta. Unfortunately, we will have another 40 more years of air poisoning from gas flaring in the region with Nigeria’s net zero transition plan is targeting the year 2060.

“The age of crude oil has come to an end. The stone age did not end because people ran out to stone, the world is setting deadlines

“Who determines the operating cost of oil operators? The three per cent operating cost will now be far lesser than the GMoU funds given to host communities by oil multinationals annually. Matter of fact, nothing is coming; be assured that one year from now people will revolt when they have realised that the PIA’s  three per cent host community fund is a scam.

“Ask yourself, what was the operating cost for Shell, Exxonmobil, Agip and Total in 2021 or 2022? Nobody knows, even the regulators do not know.  So we will be at the mercy of whatsoever amount the oil operators give us.

“We must start questioning the PIA and inject fresh  policies, regulations that will protect the livelihoods and life of the Niger Delta people, otherwise the PIA as it is, is only out to criminalizes the Niger Delta region. We need to have a shared understanding of what the issues are, the environmental and health implication of oil exploration.

“The Niger Delta people must file a class action to stop the implementation of the PIA  as well as stop the oil majors from divesting until the restore the environment back to the way it was before oil exploration.”

In his remarks, an activist, Celestine Akpobari, opined that oil production in the region should cease because it was not of any profit to the host communities.

“The government and oil companies are partners. If they don’t want one drop of oil to be stolen they know what to do. We should  stop oil production because the oil is not profiting us. Look at the PIA, if anything happens, they will deny us the meagre  three percent but a whopping 30 per cent of oil profits is set aside for frontier explorations.”