OML 46: Ijaw National Congress applauds Diri’s effort to recover oilfield

The Ijaw National Congress (INC), a socio-cultural organisation, has commended Gov. Douye Diri, for his effort to recover the state government’s Oil Mining Licence (OML) 46 in the Atala oilfield.

The group noted that the decision of Diri to engage President Muhammadu Buhari in a bid to reclaim the oil asset for the government and good people of Bayelsa was a step in the right direction.

”The governor’s Oct. 5 meeting with Buhari in Abuja where he sought the president’s intervention to resolve the orchestrated controversy around OML 46, revoked in April 2020, is a demonstration of his leadership in the affairs and wellbeing of the Ijaw nation,” he said.

‘We applauded Diri for also seeking the Federal Government’s intervention in road infrastructure in the state and the need to adopt the Bayelsa Medical University as a suitable institution and location for the South-South region in the proposed establishment of six new federal universities of medical sciences and biomedical technology in the country.

“We thank President Buhari for expressing his commitment to Gov. Diri to urgently look into the OML 46 controversy and ensure that it is resolved in favour of Bayelsa because that is the right thing to do in the interest of peace, justice and equity,” the group said.

Okaba further said that the INC equally applauds the Senate for dispassionately investigating the OML 46 saga and resolving that the oilfield be returned to its original owner.

“Findings, according to reports, by the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions that the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), formerly Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), could not show evidence that the President directed the re-allocation of Atala oilfield to a private firm is very instructive and revealing.

“It is much more instructive and revealing that the Committee also upbraided the NUPRC for flouting a presidential directive that the original owners of OML 46 be given the right of first refusal in the award of the oilfield,”Okaba said.

He said the INC is in solidarity with Diri and his quest as a leader of Ijaw nation to pursue justice concerning the Atala oilfield through peaceful means to a logical conclusion for the benefit of Bayelsa and Ijaw people.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Buhari said he will restore the OML 46, to Bayelsa  with “promptness and immediacy.”

“I will respond to your requests as quickly as possible,” Buhari said.

NAN reports that on Oct. 6, the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges And Public Petitions mandated the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPR), to restore the Atala Marginal Oil field (OML 46) to its former owners.

The oil field, which was originally owned by the Bayelsa Oil Company Limited (BOCL), Hardy Oil Nigeria Limited (HONL) and Century Exploration and Production Limited, was reallocated to Halkin Exploration and Production Company Limited (Halkin E&P), through a letter dated July 7, 2021 by the then regulatory agency, Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), over alleged inability to bring the Atala Field to production. (NAN)