Former lawmaker kicks as Soludo skips Ogbaru in Oil and gas committee

Maduako Igbokwe l Monday, December 12, 2022

 

AWKA, Nigeria – Former House of Representatives member  representing Ogbaru Federal Constituency, Hon. Victor Afam Ogene, has faulted governor Charles Soludo’s exclusion of representatives from the  main oil producing communities in the proposed Anambra State Oil and Gas Development Committee.

He described  Soludo’s exclusion of representatives from  Ogbaru in the  proposed Anambra State Oil and Gas Development Committee as  “unfair and unlawful exclusion”

According to Ogene , the main oil   producing communities in the state are  Ogwuaniocha and Ogwuikpele, both are in Ogbaru Local Government Area and nobody  is to represent them .

He said   that out of the 11 Oil wells that qualified Anambra as an Oil Producing state, eight are sited in Ogwuaniocha and Ogwuikpele communities, yet nobody was considered worthy  from the communities to be  included in the committee.

“The exclusion is unfair and unlawful and the governor must readdress it before Inauguration” he said. He stated that Charles Soludo’s proposed committee negates the objective of the Petroleum Industry Act.

Anambra state government had announced that  Soludo would on Tuesday, December 13, inaugurate the members of the Anambra State Oil and Gas Development Committee.

Ogene,  who also is  the  Labour Party  candidate for  Ogbaru  House of Representatives said   on Monday that:”While that will be considered a great news for our dear State, Anambra – that is gradually taking it’s place in the comity of oil producing states in Nigeria – the obvious exclusion of the main host communities, Ogwuaniocha and Ogwuikpele, both in Ogbaru Local Government Area, remains a disrespectful anomaly that runs contrary to the recently signed Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), that prioritises oil host community engagement and inclusion.

“The PIA describes host communities as communities ‘situated in or appurtenant to the area of operation of a settlor and any other community as a settlor may determine.”

“there are two Ogbaru sons in the Committee, the Commissioner for Information and one other, the non-inclusion of anyone from the twin communities of Ogwuaniocha and Ogwuikpele, is not only unjust but a development that might give oxygen to future bickering and rancour which Anambra doesn’t need at this period.

The Petroleum Industry Act, 2021 (PIA or “the Act”) was signed into law in August 2021. The PIA introduces significant changes to the legal and governance framework, administrative processes, regulatory and fiscal terms, and host community engagements in the oil and gas industry, in order to ensure transparency and enabling environment for oil producing operations”.

Hon. Ogene therefore called on Governor Soludo to urgently look into the anomalous exclusion, with a view to ensuring that both Ogwuaniocha and Ogwuikpele are properly represented in the Committee for the overall interest of the state and mutual goodwill.