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From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
The Northern Youth Coalition has reversed its decision to oppose the multimillion-dollar pipeline contract awarded to former militant leader Government Ekpemupolo (popularly known as Tompolo).
Announcing the decision at a press briefing in Abuja on Monday, the leaders of the group said that the award of the contract was not just transparent and well advertised, but followed due process.
The group applauded the move as a step in the right direction.
Earlier, some arewa youths had called for the immediate sack of the Minister of State for Petroleum, Mr Timipre Sylva, and threatened to picket offices of the Nigerian National Petroleum (NNPC) Company Ltd, if Tompolo’s contract was not revoked.
The coordinator of the group, Muktar Adamu, while cautioning Nigerians about making hasty decisions on critical matters, expressed the opinion that the NNPC is not dealing with Tompolo personally, but rather with a private firm he has a stake in.
According to him, ”Nigerians must realise that oil theft has drastically reduced our production capacity, thereby affecting oil revenue accrued to the country; the development has led to a drop in the government’s earnings, creating environmental pollution and other health hazards.
“It is also a fact that Nigeria loses millions of barrels of crude oil a year because of theft and vandalism, including the tapping of crude from a maze of pipelines owned by oil majors, underscoring how poor security causes vast financial losses for the country.
“We believe that every Nigerian should be concerned that Nigeria lost $1 billion in revenue during the first quarter of this year due to crude oil theft.
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“This trend poses an existential threat to the oil and gas sector and, if not curbed, the Nigerian economy. We wish to state that the government’s efforts in addressing this trend are commendable and should give well-meaning Nigerians a sense of joy that mechanisms are being put in place to address this challenge.
“Most Nigerians might not be aware that the process that led to the award of the contract was well advertised and bid for by competent companies through a most transparent bidding process that saw over five firms participating in the bid process.
”It is a statement of the fact that there is no better time than now for the government to initiate steps to stop crude oil theft in the country in our quest for improved revenue to tackle the myriads of economic challenges in the country.
“The fact that due process was followed in the contract process is also a display of unalloyed commitment by the Minister of State for Petroleum to entrench a regime of transparency and accountability in Nigeria’s critical oil and gas sector.”
The organisation emphasised that competence, not tribe or religion, is what secures a nation’s most important assets, and it added that the Tompolo-affiliated company has the capacity and the necessary knowledge to safeguard Nigeria’s oil and gas sector’s most important assets.
“The fact that the country is looking inwards for solutions to our challenges is a plus for the government. As in the case of Mr Tompolo, the NNPC has indeed acted well in encouraging local content development in the Oil and Gas industry.
“We also wish to state that Mr Tompolo is not new to the task at hand as it is on record that he has successfully executed such contracts in times past in the country. Therefore the company’s competence to deliver is not in doubt, which remains a win for the country.
“The coalition wishes to advise those vested interests neck deep in the oil theft regime to desist from heating the polity with half-truths on the objective of the contract to secure oil infrastructures in the country. They must realise that the wealth of Nigeria belongs to Nigerians across ethnic and religious affiliations,” he stated.
