FG says international oil companies owe NDDC $4 billion

The Federal Government has revealed that International Oil Companies (IOCs) operating in the Niger Delta are owes the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) about $4 billion.

This action by these oil firms has seen them defaulting in their statutory remittances to the commission.

This disclosure was made by the Minister for Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, at the weekly ministerial briefing held at the State House in Abuja on Thursday, August 19, 2021.

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Akpabio said that the oil firms operating in the area are expected to provide 3% of their annual budgets to the commission, as their contribution to its funding, however, none of the IOCs have complied with this.

The minister said that NDDC on its part was owing to its contractors the sum of N3 trillion, adding that however, not all awarded contracts with costs can be regarded as debt as the over N600 billion of emergency contracts that had been awarded had not been implemented and cannot, therefore, be regarded as NDDC debt.

Akpabio stressed that the Ministry of Niger Delta will take a keen interest in the implementation of the 3% Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) compensation to host communities.

On the progress made so far in the Commission, the Niger Delta minister disclosed that about 109 projects, which would be commissioned soon, have been implemented in the South-South.

What you should know

• The Niger Delta Development Commission is a federal government agency established by former President  Olusegun Obasanjo in the year 2000 with the sole mandate of developing the oil-rich Niger Delta region of the country.
• In September 2008, late President Umaru Yar’Adua announced the formation of a Niger Delta Ministry, with the Niger Delta Development Commission to become a parastatal under the ministry. One of the core mandates of the Commission is to train and educate the youths of the oil-rich Niger Delta regions to curb hostilities and militancy while developing key infrastructure to promote diversification and productivity
• Funds from the Niger Delta Ministry –  which was established in 2008 with N200 billion dropped drastically to N19 billion in 2020 and then rose slightly to N24 billion in 2021.
• The minister revealed that N10 billion out of the allocated fund has been dedicated to fixing the East-West Road.