Worried by the non-remittance of statutory contributions by some oil companies to the Niger Delta Development Commission Fund as enshrined by the NDDC Act 2000, Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Hon. Leo Ogor, has proposed a Bill for an Act to Amend the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG (Fiscal Incentives, Guaranteed and Assurances) Act, Cap. N87, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 to empower the Nigerian LNG Limited to make its Statutory Contributions to the NDDC Fund and for Other Matters Connected Therewith.
The Bill which passed through second reading on Thursday in the House of Representatives, was Sponsored by House Minority Leader, Hon. Leo Okuweh Ogor (Delta PDP), seeks to empower the Nigeria LNG to make statutory contributions to the NDDC Fund.
Members of the House of Representatives has expressed strong support for the amendment of the NLNG Act of 2004, which stipulates remittance of 3 percent annual revenue into the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Fund. The accrued revenue from the NLNG is for the development and to address various challenges caused by gas flaring and environmental pollution ravaging the host communities across all the oil producing states in the Niger Delta. The lawmakers expressed these concerns during the debate on the NLNG Act, 2004, which scaled through second reading last week.
In his lead debate, Leo Ogor, explained that the bill seeks to prevent total degradation of the oil producing communities in the Niger Delta region, which has extensively depleted its ecosystem over a long period of time. The lawmaker lamented that gas flaring has wrecked untold environmental and health havoc on the people of the Niger Delta for decades, and therefore became necessary to curb using available means as a matter of urgency. Ogor, who doubles as Minority Leader, called for the intervention of the House, “the only way we can solve this problem is to bring relevant amendments to the Act because our people have suffered so much and I said that it’s very important that we appreciate the enormity of the danger present in the region for us to act quickly and as a people, hold the NLNG responsible for unnecessary gas flaring using this amendment.
The Bill which passed through second reading on Thursday in the House of Representatives, was Sponsored by House Minority Leader, Hon. Leo Okuweh Ogor (Delta PDP), seeks to empower the Nigeria LNG to make statutory contributions to the NDDC Fund.
Members of the House of Representatives has expressed strong support for the amendment of the NLNG Act of 2004, which stipulates remittance of 3 percent annual revenue into the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Fund. The accrued revenue from the NLNG is for the development and to address various challenges caused by gas flaring and environmental pollution ravaging the host communities across all the oil producing states in the Niger Delta. The lawmakers expressed these concerns during the debate on the NLNG Act, 2004, which scaled through second reading last week.
In his lead debate, Leo Ogor, explained that the bill seeks to prevent total degradation of the oil producing communities in the Niger Delta region, which has extensively depleted its ecosystem over a long period of time. The lawmaker lamented that gas flaring has wrecked untold environmental and health havoc on the people of the Niger Delta for decades, and therefore became necessary to curb using available means as a matter of urgency. Ogor, who doubles as Minority Leader, called for the intervention of the House, “the only way we can solve this problem is to bring relevant amendments to the Act because our people have suffered so much and I said that it’s very important that we appreciate the enormity of the danger present in the region for us to act quickly and as a people, hold the NLNG responsible for unnecessary gas flaring using this amendment.
“The amendment to this Act is aimed at redressing the great injustice that the NLNG has meted to the people of the Niger Delta region for almost 27 years now,” he said. Ogor said that the danger facing his people is so glaring that a visit to the region will reveal at once the negative impact of oil and gas exploration on the environment across the length and breadth of the Niger Delta. On his part, Muhammed Sani Abdul, expressed optimism that on-going efforts to clean up the Niger Delta will be of immense benefit to the entire country. “If the activities of oil companies are not curtailed and their excesses checked, nobody will have the face or a place to call a home as every inhabitable spaces would have been degraded and polluted for commercial gains as had been the case in the Niger Delta”, he said.
While ruling, Speaker Yakubu Dogara referred the bill to the House Committee on Gas Resources for further legislative inputs.
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