From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
The Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri has flayed the Federal Government on the lip service it has paid to the full implementation of the Local Content Law.
He has therefore called for a holistic implementation of the law to give a sense of belonging to oil producing communities in Nigeria.
Diri who stated this at a dinner organized by the state government for participants at the 12th Practical Nigerian Content annual conference in Yenagoa lamented the flagrant violation of the directive that multinational oil companies should relocate their headquarters to Bayelsa State.
The governor who was represented by his deputy, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo expressed displeasure at the attitude of the oil companies which is a violation of the Local Content Act.
He noted that Bayelsa State is being unfairly treated with the operations of the oil companies which allows them to pay taxes to Lagos State government while the state they have bulk of their operations gets nothing.
Diri seized the opportunity to commend commend the Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Mr Simbi Wabote, for his dedication that has produced amazing results in the oil and gas sector.
His words: “The Bayelsa State Government is not totally happy about where we are. We believe that the Local Content without the oil companies operating from Bayelsa is not local content enough for us.
“All the multinational oil companies have their head offices outside Bayelsa State. They have their headquarters in Lagos State. So, all the PAYE tax is being collected by the Lagos State Government.
“We must all gather as part of Local Content to stop this inequity and anomaly. If our land is not good enough for the companies to stay, the money from our land should also not be good enough for them to collect.”
The Secretary to the State Government, Alabo Gideon Ekeuwei in his remarks who made a comparison between Singapore and Nigeria decried the poor leadership that has stagnated development in the country.
According to him Singapore had since moved into the rank of developed nations through patriotic leadership and efficient use of resources, yet Nigeria with all her abundant resources still remains a Third World nation.