By: Felix Ikpotor
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), together with its Joint Venture (JV) partners, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Total Exploration and Production of Nigeria (TEPNG), and Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC), it has so far disbursed a total of $360million for the clean-up of oil impacted sites in Ogoniland.
The NNPC explained that the disbursement of the fund followed the recommendations of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
The Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari, who stated this at the National Assembly, during a presentation to the House of Representatives Committee on Environment and Habitat on Monday, said funding was not a challenge to the clean-up exercise.
Kyari, who was represented by NNPC Chief Operating Officer, Upstream, Mr. Roland Ewubare, stressed that NNPC and its JV partners were up to date in their financial remittance to the clean-up project fund based on the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) framework.
He said, “Ogoni clean-up is a massive issue and NNPC and its JV partners are ready to fund the project as prescribed by the UNEP Report. We have so far disbursed $360million out of the $900million recommended. The disbursement was based on the standards set which required that we release funds based on the implementation parameters of the clean-up exercise.”
He noted that though NNPC and its JV partners were not responsible for the implementation of the clean-up, stressing that all stakeholders must come together to ensure that the project was carried out successfully.
Kyari added that the implementation of the clean-up was very important as the exercise would enable the restoration of land, water and the economic well-being of the people in the area.
He decried the misinformation about the Ogoniland clean-up and called on the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP), to ensure that the narrative was corrected for the effective implementation of the project.
