The Federal Government of Nigeria through the NNPC has awarded a pipeline protection contract PPC to Ocean Marine Solutions (OMS) in December 2018. The actual amount is unstated…(for obvious reasons).
Pipeline Protection Contracts PPC are not new, the PDP Government started them. PPCs are essentially bribes paid by the a Federal Government to Niger Delta based bands of warlords called Ex-militants . The idea is to pay the warlords not to break into pipelines and bunker crude oil. Sad reality is that, it works…when you payoff warlords, bunkering drops….PPCs are the Federal Government confessing they cannot prevent bunkering …its a fiscal surrender, However this new PPC signed in December 2018 is different, how?
The new PPC mandates that any repairs and liabilities on destroyed pipelines are covered by OMS….sounds familiar?
It should….The policy that losses due to pipeline vandalism are covered by the company that oversees the pipelines were a key part of the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIB) The PIB promoted the concept of Host Communities who were to he given responsibility for overall protection of the crude oil pipelines in their communities in exchange for 10% of oil revenues. The Host Communities were also liable for any pipeline vandalism within their domain.
So in effect, the Buhari administration has approved the Host Communities Fund but instead of paying the fiscal revenues to the Community…they are paying to an organization….
The PIB was not passed into law under the PDP because the Northern caucus in the National Assembly were against the increase in derivation from 13% to 23% which is essentially what the PIB proposed via the Host Comminutiy Bill…..so i am curious if the same causus agrees with same fiscal deductions coming not from the Federation but from the NNPC. If they do agree, then they are not just ignorant but opposed what they did not understand…..payments to the OMS is still a deduction to Federation Account….
To my South South deinzens…..pay attention to these issues…..why is host Communities bad but paying to an individual from then South South good? Why are payments ok to individuals but not communities
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