Ijaw leaders oppose selling off small oil fields as the Nigerian government selects winners.
by Ebor Cletus Ralph Jr
Ijaw leaders have requested the Minister of Petroleum Resources to abide by a recent ruling issued by the Federal High Court in Bayelsa State over the ongoing licencing rounds for marginal oilfields.
They promised to take legal action to stop the court order’s infringement.
They claimed that a court injunction prohibited the Federal Government from providing licences for marginal oilfields in the Niger Delta until the outcome of an active lawsuit.
Following the announcement of the winning businesses on Tuesday evening, the Ijaw leaders petitioned the Minister of Petroleum Resources via the Minister of State for Petroleum, through which their attorney, Mr. Enie Otrofanowei, reminded the Federal Government of the still-in-effect order.
The petitioners highlighted that the Ministry of Petroleum Resources was required to set an example in supporting the rule of law and abide by the court order as one of the parties to the lawsuit who had legal representation, and they threatened to take legal action to challenge any violations of the order.
The Ijaw leaders had approached the court in 2020, seeking to halt licensing on marginal oilfields located in their domains.
They asked the court to restrain the Federal Government from further advertising and receiving bids in respect of the marginal fields or approving licences.
The trial judge, Justice Isa Dashen, granted the restraining order in favour of the Ijaw leaders.
Ijaw leaders who filed the suit were Brown Agu (Opu Agu VIII), Mrs. Rosemary John-Oduone, President, Ijaw Women Connect and Mr. Femowei Friend on behalf of themselves and the Ijaw ethnic nationality.
The complaint names the Attorney General of the Federation, the Ministers of Justice, Petroleum Resources, and State for Petroleum Resources as defendants.
The Federal Government concluded a process that had started in 2020 by announcing bid winners on the fields on June 1, 2021, and by obligating the winners to hand over their licences for the marginal lands on Tuesday.
Companies including Matrix Energy, Ardova Oil, Suntrust Oil, Energia Ltd., and Mainland Oil are among those anticipated to start producing oil.
Petroleum Prospecting Licenses, or PPLs, were granted to the more than 100 businesses, and they had a maximum of six years to develop the fields and start producing oil.
