A member of the House of Representatives representing Degema/Bonny Federal Constituency, Farah Dagogo, has raised the alarm over alleged moves by TOTAL Group to relocate its servicing companies from Egina Offshore Field Onne to Ladol Yard in Lagos State.
The Egina Offshore Field, which is reputed to have the capacity to add 200,000 barrels of oil per day to Nigeria’s production, is situated in Rivers State.
Dagogo, in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ibrahim Lawal, opposed the planned relocation, warning that the move could worsen the spate of unemployment in Rivers and the Niger Delta region by extension.
While urging relevant federal and state government bodies to intervene and prevent the execution of the alleged plan, Dagogo said he had a prepared motion to be presented on the floor of the House, with the aim of compelling International Oil Companies as well as the Department of Petroleum Resources and the National Petroleum Investment Management Services to relocate their head offices to the states where they explore and exploit crude.
The federal lawmaker also condemned the alleged laxity by government, which he described as “unbridled attitude of being reactive instead of proactive” to issues of this magnitude.
He said, “I foresaw this scenario, that was why I had a motion to that effect. Unfortunately, it couldn’t be presented on the floor of the House of Representatives before we went on recess. It will definitely be presented after our recess.
“In the interim, however, there is the need for the Federal Government and the Rivers State Government to step in now because I have credible information that the relocation of the servicing companies working on Egina Offshore Field, Onne, Rivers State, by TOTAL Group to Ladol Yard in Lagos State is at an advanced stage.
“We all know what this relocation portends to the volatile Niger Delta region. We need to do away with this our unbridled attitude of being reactive instead of proactive to issues of this magnitude. We should not wait for the problem to come before we start investing avoidable logistics to resolve it. We should prevent it and this is one of those.
“How could these IOCs and the sectors regulatory and investment vehicle, DPR and NAPIMS, respectively, abandon the areas and states they explore and exploit crude for a supposedly safe haven. I surmise they could not stand the deprivation and bastardisation of the environments they get their huge revenue from.
“For me, this relocation is one too many and this current one being pushed by TOTAL Group will be swiftly resisted.”