Ex-Militants Threaten Crisis As NNPCL Excludes Them From Pipeline Contracts

 

Ex-agitators in the Niger Delta have threatened violence following the alleged refusal of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to include Niger Deltans in the award of pipeline maintenance contracts.

The threat was made on Sunday in a statement signed by its Coordinator, Gershom Gbobo; spokesperson, David Tonye Banigo; National Secretary, Johnson Akpobari and National Director, Mobilisation, Goodluck Warikere.

It stated that it was insensitive and provocative for the NNPCL to award pipeline maintenance contracts to only northern companies.

“We will never allow such cheating, marginalisation, injustice, and insensitivity to occur in this new administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, whose mantra remains justice, equity, and fairness.

“The NNPCL should know that its actions and conducts would determine the level of peace in the oil-bearing communities of the Niger Delta. We will not allow this provocative action of awarding pipeline maintenance contracts only to companies owned by northern cabals.

“What happens to all the Niger Delta indigenous companies? No northern company would be allowed to carry out routine maintenance on pipelines located in our territory,” the statement read.

They further warned that it was important for the NNPCL to engage Niger Delta firms “to create jobs for the youths and keep all stakeholders busy.

“We warn that there will be unrest and crisis if NNPCL fails to review this gross injustice. We are sure that international communities will understand that we are fighting for our rights.

“We must be involved in this. This is one contract that can be used to discourage pipeline vandalism in the Niger Delta. Why will they give such contracts to people who are not from the region?

“Have they awarded any contract in the North to those of us from the Niger Delta? Is it feasible for us to go to the North and agitate for contracts? We call on Mr President, the National Security Adviser, Secretary to the Federation, and the Chief of Staff to intervene in this and stop this disrespect to our region.

“We are not saying that they should not award contracts to some of those northern companies. What we are saying is that they should award contracts to them in their domains and award contracts to us in our own domains.

“You cannot be taking everything from our environment through pipelines and still deny us the opportunity to maintain those pipelines.”

Meanwhile the NNPC Limited has denied reports that contracts for the rehabilitation of pipelines across the country were awarded to a “northern oil cabal.”

NNPC, on Sunday, said the selection was not conducted solely by the firm, as the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission and the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) were involved.

“To re-emphasise our commitment to transparency, NNPC subjected the selection process to a competitive tender guided by Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) standards, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission expertise, and the active involvement of a Transaction Advisor.

“We also had representations from NEITI and the Ministry of Justice in the project development team and the evaluation exercise,” a statement signed by the management said.

According to the agency, the report is fallacious and designed to bring the name of the firm into disrepute. The national oil firm said the process was transparent.

“NNPC Limited is deeply committed to adhering to the highest standards of transparency and global best practices in all our activities, and this includes our contracting process. These contracts, which were advertised, were awarded based on rigorous evaluation criteria and in line with industry norms,” the statement reads.

According to the NNPC, 17 oil firms were awarded the pipeline rehabilitation contracts.

The company said the list of the awardees that form a consortium shows that lot one was awarded to Oilserve Ltd, Chu Kong Steel Pipe Group Company Ltd, and Saudi Crown Oilserve.

Lot two, NNPC said, went to MacReady Oil and Gas Services, COBRA Instalicios S.A, Control Y Montajes Industriales & International De Pipelines, Iron Products Industries Ltd, Batelitwin Global Services Ltd, Bauen Empresa Constructora SAU, Sanderton Energy Ltd, and The Spanish National Association of Manufacturers.

Also, lot three was allocated to AA Rano, Zakhem Construction Nigeria, Bablinks Resources Ltd, VAE Controls S.R.O, while lot four was awarded to MRS Oil and Gas, CPPE Nigeria Ltd, according to the statement.

While the contract agreement is based on building, operating and transferring, NNPC said the agreement does not entail the transfer of control of the assets to the companies.

“Our objective is to enhance the integrity and functionality of the pipelines to facilitate the efficient transportation of crude oil to refineries and the distribution of its products across the country,” the oil firm said.

NNPC said it retains ownership of the pipelines, however, the selected partners will finance the rehabilitation.