Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State, Tuesday, described the definition of host communities or oil-producing communities in the recently passed Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) as worrisome.
Diri, who spoke, Tuesday, when he featured as a guest on Channels Television breakfast current affairs programme, Sunrise Daily, warned that the definition of a host community in the just-passed controversial PIB, by the National Assembly was a time bomb if not properly addressed.
“The definition of host communities or oil-producing communities is also worrisome. Oil-producing communities should not be where pipelines are laid. If the issue of what an oil-producing community is not addressed, it is a time bomb that could explode.”
Meanwhile, immediate past National Vice Chairman (South-South) of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, PFN, Bishop Simeon Okah, has said the people of Niger Delta will not accept the three and five per cent approved by the National Assembly as Host Communities Development Trust Fund in the recently passed PIB.
Also, Isoko Monitoring Group, IMG, has described the recently passed PIB as a taboo that would not be tolerated by oil and gas host communities in Niger Delta.
According to the governor, “Governors did not wait until now to speak on the PIB. Speaking on behalf of my state, we had a position and it was made very clear during the public hearings.
“It is an unthinkable and total injustice to allot three per cent to oil-producing communities. We stated our position of 10 per cent.
On the open grazing, Diri said: “The issue of cattle grazing is a commercial, private activity. I do not see why we needed anybody’s opinion to regulate a private activity.
“We must protect our people. That is why we have state assemblies. In Bayelsa, it has already come into force since March 11, 2021. Open grazing is no longer sustainable. We need to stop it.”
