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From Tony John, Port Harcourt
The Niger Delta Stakeholders Forum (NDSF) and leaders of former Niger Delta agitators have told President Bola Tinubu that he needs to decentralise the pipeline surveillance contract if he wants to win re-election in the 2027 general elections. The leaders, such as General Shoot-at-Sight, General Boy-Loaf, and others, said that the job should go to leaders from each of the nine states in the region.
The states are Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Imo, Ondo and Rivers.
They spoke at the palace of the Amanyanabo of Okochiri Kingdom, King Ateke Michael Tom, after they met with other stakeholders in the region.
Speaking during the meeting, General Boy-Loaf emphasised, “If the President really wants to achieve what he wants in 2027, he has to show love, because only one person cannot deliver. Nobody should deceive him.”
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Similarly, General Shoot-at-Sight urged Tinubu to eschew the said plans to implement the review of the contract after the 2027 elections, describing the arrangement as deceitful.
He noted that the different states have qualified leaders and structures to provide pipeline security adequately, adding that the idea of handing the whole job to only one person is demeaning to other agitators who fought for the freedom of the region.
He said, “We were doing this job state by state under President Goodluck Jonathan. The next president came; he made it political and cancelled it. We have been on this matter for years. Last year, we heard that the work would be split state by state before the election. But till now, we have not seen anything.
“When we did disarmament in 2009, Nigeria’s oil production increased because the contract was split. Since they gave this job to only one person, the oil production has not increased again.
“We are saying that the contact should be split. Then, we had a quota for employment in each state. Now, we see that the job is now for politicians, and that is not the original design.”
