The National Assembly has called on the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) to comply with the resolution of the Senate and pay oil producing communities in the Niger Delta the sum of N6.9 billion.
The amount is for accumulated rentals, expired leases, judgement debts and discriminatory payments for land re-acquisition and rentals in the Niger Delta.
This was sequel to a petition from Bekele Jones and Associates to the National Assembly, lamenting the refusal of the company to comply with the resolutions of the Senate.
In separate letters to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha and Managing Director, Shell Petroleum Development Company, Clerk to the National Assembly (CNA), Mohammed Sani-Omolori, called on the multinational company to give effect to the resolution of the Senate, which adopted the report of its Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions mandating the company to pay the host communities the sum of N6.9 billion.
Pipelines in the affected communities, according to the letter dated 4th March, 2019, include Utapate South Delivery Line, 16′ South Forcados Pipeline, Port Harcourt Oloibiri Pipeline, Oloibiri Field as well as the entire Utapate/Akwa Ibom Fields.
The CNA also asked the SPDC to honour court judgements for payments to landowners in Suit No. NET/23/1977 in favour of Iko Community.
The Senate had on January 24, 2019 mandated SPDC to pay a uniform rate of N600,000 per hectre of land as rent per annum for all loss of use of surface rights from 2014.
The upper chamber also directed the multinational company to “cancel all long term leases of 99 years already imposed on landowners and comply with the provisions of the Oil Pipeline Act which stipulate a term of 20 years only.”
It also resolved that SPDC should respect powers of attorney donated by landowners to their agents/consultants to negotiate for them and receive their rentals from the multinational company.
OWEDE AGBAJILEKE, Abuja
