Traditional rulers from across the Niger Delta under the auspices of Traditional Rulers of Oil Mineral Producing Communities of Nigeria, TROMPCON, have condemned the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited, NLNG, for refusing to meet its statutory obligation to the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC.
Addressing newsmen at a press conference in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, the National Chairman of
TROMPCON Eze Akuwueze Ikegwuruka, described the actions of NLNG as depicting the gas company “as an irresponsible corporate citizen.”
He decried the defiant posture of NLNG, calling it “unlawful and a gross impediment to the fulfilment of the development objectives spelt out in the NDDC Act.
“For us, the traditional rulers, it smacks of irresponsibility for the NLNG to be shirking its responsibility to the people of the region,” Ikegwuruka said.
The traditional rulers commended the House of Representatives for taking a bold stand to correct the injustices of the past years, expressing confidence that the Senate would soon concur to put a seal on the bill.
Eze Ikegwuruka gave kudos to the NDDC Board and Management for spearheading the amendment and letting Nigerians know some of the pains which the people of the Niger Delta had endured for many years.
He said: “It is, indeed, surprising that the NLNG is clinging to some sections its Act of 2004, which has since expired to refuse to meet its statutory obligations to the NDDC.
We consider it shameful for the NLNG to be campaigning against the best judgement of members of the National Assembly. They must come to terms with the fact that when the Niger Delta sneezes, the rest of the country catches cold.
“While we acknowledge the fact that section 2 of the NLNG Act, gives it what is called a tax relief period, these fiscal incentives are very clear in terms of their duration, as they are purely for a period of 10 years. The NLNG has enjoyed these incentives for almost 18 years without paying levies.”
The TROMPCON Chairman said that the royal fathers had identified the strengths and challenges of the NDDC and was eager to support the Commission in the interest of the people of the Niger Delta region.
He added: “We, as traditional rulers, will always assist the NDDC in the efforts to maintain a peaceful environment for the activities of development agencies and contractors.”
Eze Ikegwuruka noted that TROMPCON played a key role in the establishment of the NDDC, right from the days of the Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission, OMPADEC, and, therefore, considered it a duty to continue to show solidarity to the interventionist agency. Obviously, the challenges facing the NDDC are enormous and as such require the support of all stakeholders in the region.
The Eze declared: “For far too long, the Niger Delta people have been short-changed in terms of funding and we cannot fold our arms and allow this injustice to continue.
“The Niger Delta is far too important a region, both in Nigeria, the West African sub-region and the Gulf of Guinea to be ignored or treated shabbily.”
The traditional rulers expressed concern that NLNG had “continuously canvasses a crooked capitalist-inspired view on the amendment of the Nigeria LNG (Fiscal, Guarantees, Assurances, and Incentives) Act, by the House of Representatives.”
They described the arguments of NLNG as portraying “an organisation that idolises economic relations concerns amidst the groundswell of global transition from pure to conscious and creative capitalism.
” They added: “We find it extremely exploitative of the NLNG to keep canvassing solely economic concerns, with scant regards for the wellbeing of the Niger Delta and its people.”
“As traditional leaders of the Niger Delta people, we strongly condemn the deceitful attempts by NLNG to blackmail the Federal Government of Nigeria by dangling the carrots of growth and FDI in a bid to perpetuate guarantees and assurances that have actually expired.”
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