The House of Representatives on Wednesday summoned the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Dr. Mele Kyari over environmental degradation caused by the activities of oil companies across oil-producing communities across the country.
Chairman of the House Committee on Environment, Hon. Pondi Gbabojor who issued the notice in Abuja during the investigative hearing on the activities of oil companies, held at the instance of the joint Committees on Environment, Petroleum Resources (Upstream), Petroleum Resources (Downstream) and Climate Change, threatened to sanction any erring Organisations that fail to appear before the committee.
Some of the affected oil companies are: Chevron Nigeria Limited, Total Energies, Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, Seplat Energy, Oando Oil Limited and Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), among others.
The Federal Government agencies invited for questioning are the Nigeria Midstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, the National Oil Spill Detection Response Agency and the National Environmental Standards Regulations and Enforcement Agency.
While expressing displeasure over the non-appearance of 31 companies out of the 35 oil companies invited by the joint Committees, other lawmakers expressed concern over the non-provision of relevant documents required to carry out their investigation.
Hon. Gbabojor said: “We will write another letter to everybody. They should turn up to answer questions on issues pertaining to the degradation of the environment due to the activities of oil companies.
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“They have to be here on May 8. If anybody fails to show up, then, we would decide as a committee on what to do. I want to believe that there was enough time- two letters were sent, and there was ample time for them to see the letters and duly honour them. But to put on a human face, we would still give another time to do so,” he said.
While declaring the investigative hearing open, Speaker, Abbas Tajudeen underscored the need for all the operators to prioritize the safety of the environment.
The Speaker who was represented by the Deputy Minority Whip, Hon. George Ozodinobi said: “I fully recognize the immense responsibility which befalls us as public servants to protect and safeguard our environment and meet the challenges posed by the ravages of environmental damages, and the need to balance economic prosperity and social responsibility to ultimately achieve equitable development.
“As representatives of the people, we must ensure that the voices of those most affected by environmental damage are heard and respected. We have to listen to the fears that are faced by frontline communities, indigenous people, and marginalized groups who usually bear the brunt of environmental injustice.
“It is therefore, for this reason that the House mandated the Committees on Environment, Petroleum Resources (Upstream), Petroleum Resources (Downstream), and Climate Change, to investigate the environmental damage in oil-producing communities caused by non-compliance to extant laws by oil producing companies.”
To this end, he directed the NNPCL Managing Director/CEO and management team of all the oil companies as well as relevant heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs)to appear before the joint Committees on Wednesday, May 8, 2024.
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