From Tony John, Port Harcourt
The Ogoni Liberation Initiative (OLI) has called on President Bola Tinubu to urgently intervene in the alleged diversion of $300 million compensation meant for the development of Ogoni ethnic nationality in Rivers State.
President/Chief Executive Officer of OLI, Douglas Fabeke, in a letter addressed to President Tinubu, said the appeal for urgent presidential intervention in the alleged diversion of the money and mismanagement of Ogoni cleanup funds was to forestall Ogoni going into extinction.
Fabeke claimed that $300 million paid by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) under the former GMD NNPCL, Mele Kyari, as compensation to the Ogoni people for Oil Mining Lease (OML) 11, was diverted by a previous state administration.
He lamented that the Ogoni people had again been subjected to grave injustice, fraud and mismanagement of funds meant for their development and environmental restoration.
The group noted: “It has come to our attention that $300 million, allegedly paid by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) under the former GMD NNPCL, Mele Kyari, as compensation to the Ogoni people for Oil Mining Lease (OML) 11, was diverted by the previous administration of the Rivers State Government in collaboration with certain individuals claiming to represent Ogoni interests.
“It is on record that the leadership of the Ogoni Liberation Initiative (OLI) was deeply involved in a case that led to the victory of the Federal Government through NNPCL over Shell through the Supreme Court, copies of the judgement are also in our possession.
“This organisation hired consultancies that mediated between the two organisations, and also consulted with different oil-bearing communities to withdraw all cases against the government and shell from court. Records and resolutions were all submitted to the former GMD NNPCL, Mele Kyari.”
According to the president of the group, several meetings were held in Lagos and Abuja on how to peacefully resolve and manage all the Ogoni communities for a successful business, development and restoration of the communities.
Fabeke explained further: “One of the highest events was held in Bori, the Ogoni people gathered in their thousands to welcome the NNPCL after the victory in the Supreme Court. Promises were made through the combined management of the GMD NPDC and NNPCL and none of those promises was fulfilled.”
He appealed: “Mr. President, we want you to take a bold step to address this issue because the Ogoni communities have been sold and you are the only courageous leader that can redeem us through the power of the Almighty God.
“The former administration of the Rivers State Government had repeatedly claimed that it negotiated and reached a settlement with Ogoni communities regarding this compensation. However, till date, the government has failed to provide any evidence of the communities it engaged, nor has it presented any settlement agreement to support its claims. This lack of transparency reinforces our belief that no such settlement ever took place and the funds have been misappropriated.”
According to OLI, the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP), which was entrusted with the $1billion allocated for the environmental cleanup of Ogoni land, has grossly mismanaged the funds with no tangible progress in the cleanup efforts.
“Our investigation further shows that over N27 billion has been used for water projects by HYPREP in some communities and materials are substandard making the water not suitable for drinking as proved by the tests results that we have.
“Also, the livelihood programme does not meet the standard as provided in the UNEP Report and the clean-up exercise is not done in accordance with the recommendation in the UNEP Report.”
The group, however, demanded full accountability and transparency from the NNPCL and the Rivers State Government on the $300 million compensation, including a “detailed public report on which communities were allegedly engaged and copies of any supposed out of court settlement which the Rivers State House of Assembly on October 6, 2022, approved between the State Government and NNPCL without involving the communities.”
Also, the OLI urged President Tinubu to set up an independent investigation into the diversion of the funds, with those responsible held accountable.
It called for a forensic audit of HYPREP’s spending to determine how the $366 million meant for the cleanup of Ogoniland has been utilized.
The Ogoni group re-affirmed its confidence in President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, expressing optimism that people from the ethnic nationality would find fulfilment under his leadership.