Senate President Ahmad Lawan has called on the federal government through its relevant agencies to penalize indigenous oil companies responsible for the devastation of host communities where they operate.
He disclosed this when the Senate considered a motion on “the extremely urgent need to stop the continuous crude oil and gas blow out spill at Santa Barbara well 1, OML 29 operated by AITEO Eastern Exploration and Production Company Limited in Opu Nembe, Bayelsa State.”
The motion was sponsored by Senator Biobarakuma Degi-Eremienyo (PDP, Bayelsa East).
The lawmaker, while coming under order 42 and 52 of the Senate Rules, noted with concern the continuous gushing and spewing of oil and gas into the waterways and mangrove vegetation of Opu Nembe area of Bayelsa state, from a long sealed, non producing oil well 1, Santa Barbara OML 29 belonging to AITEO Eastern Exploration and Production Company Limited.
Senator George Thompson Sekibo (PDP, Rivers East) lamented that many states in the Niger Delta are polluted with soot as a result of the flagrant negligence of oil companies.
He, therefore, called on the federal government to intervene by curbing the excesses of such companies operating in the area.
The Senate President, on his part, said that the National Assembly would insist on companies carrying out their corporate-social responsibilities to host communities under the law.
According to him, doing so would also involve penalizing any company that fails to adhere to operational standards set out by the federal government.
“I feel very sad that an indigenous oil company for that matter, would be involved in this kind of incident and yet not be able to show any capacity.
“As a country, we want to promote our local content – indigenous oil companies – to participate in this industry.
“But we are going to insist, whether it is an indigenous owned company or an international one, that the companies must be responsible to the communities and to us as a nation,” he said.
The Senate, accordingly, urged AITEO Eastern Exploration and Production Company Nigeria Limited to urgently seek, explore and deploy relevant the highest level of expertise and technology to stop the spill and prevent the continuous damage to the environment and restore the life support system of the people.
It also condemned in totality the oil spill by AITEO and urged the relevant agencies to invoke the maximum penalties applicable under the laws for such infractions.
The chamber urged the relevant agencies to undertake environmental impact assessment to determine the extent of the pollution with a view to undertake remediation in accordance with internationally accepted polluter pays principles within ninety days.
