January 03, 2016 – The Ijaw Peoples Assembly has accused multinational oil company, Agip of allegedly making its security platform available to the All Progressives Congress (APC) for diversion of election materials in the last governorship elections in Bayelsa State.
The organisation which said the action of Agip undermined security of the state also claimed of a fresh plot to unleash violence during the rerun election in the state. The General Secretary of IPA, Dave Ombe, in the statement, accused of Agip of working with the APC not only by donating about N500 million to its governorship candidate, Timipre Sylva but also allegedly afforded APC opportunity to unleash violence in Brass Local Government Area and consequently rigged the election.
He said that though Agip acted that way due to alleged threat by militants loyal to Sylva to blow up its oil facilities domiciled in Brass LGA, it was not enough excuse to undermine the security of the state. It claimed by such with illicit support, Agip had put the lives of citizens at great risk in order to satisfy the selfish political interest of a few.
“This amounts to satisfying the interest of a few misguided elements as against the larger corporate existence of Bayelsa State” the IPA stressed.
Ombe also hinted that Agip’s support for Sylva was not unconnected with the ongoing probe of massive oil spill by the state government regarding operations of Agip resulting in the destruction of the ecosystem and untold hardship for the people having destroyed their livelihood.
The statement added that the insistence of the Henry Seriake Dickson’s administration to ensure due diligence on the part of Agip to clean up the spill and pay compensation to the communities affected swayed the oil major’s support for APC but which it said was not in the public interest.
While regretting that Agip could not have done so in its home country, Ombe observed that rather than donate hundreds of millions of naira to support APC to rig election, it should have owned up to its responsibility by accepting to do the right thing and clean up communities damaged by its oil spill.
“It’s about time we let this corporate imperialist knew that they cannot get away with such impunity and irresponsible behaviour”, he stated.
