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The Coalition of Northern Youths on Monday faulted the criticisms that trailed the award of multi-million dollar pipeline contract to former militant leader, Government Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo.
The organisation wondered why some Nigerians were kicking against the contract when the process that led to its award was well advertised and transparent.
The coordinator of CNY, Muktar Adamu, said in Abuja that the action of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited was necessitated by the need for Nigeria to hire private contractors to protect its oil pipelines nationwide against vandalism and massive oil theft.
Adamu said the NNPC was not dealing with Tompolo as an individual but rather with a private company he has an interest in, which he said is not an aberration but a step in the right direction.
While stating that Nigerians must be careful in making hasty judgement on crucial government actions or policies, Adamu said that blocking lope holes in revenue generation for the country should ordinarily elicit excitement across the country instead of referring to ethnicity and religion as a focus in the narrative.
He said, ”Nigerians must realize that oil theft has drastically reduced our production capacity, thereby affecting oil revenue accrued to the country; the development has led to a drop in the government’s earnings, creating environmental pollution and other health hazards.
“It is also a fact that Nigeria loses millions of barrels of crude oil a year because of theft and vandalism, including the tapping of crude from a maze of pipelines owned by oil majors, underscoring how poor security causes vast financial losses for the country.
“We believe that every Nigerian should be concerned that Nigeria lost $1 billion in revenue during the first quarter of this year due to crude oil theft.
“This trend poses an existential threat to the oil and gas sector and, if not curbed, the Nigerian economy. We wish to state that the government’s efforts in addressing this trend are commendable and should give well-meaning Nigerians a sense of joy that mechanisms are being put in place to address this challenge.
“Most Nigerians might not be aware that the process that led to the award of the contract was well advertised and bided for by competent companies through a most transparent bidding process that saw over five firms participating in the bid process.
”It is a statement of the fact that there is no better time than now for the government to initiate steps to stop crude oil theft in the country in our quest for improved revenue to tackle the myriads of economic challenges in the country.
“The fact that due process was followed in the contract process is also a display of unalloyed commitment by the Minister of State for Petroleum to entrench a regime of transparency and accountability in Nigeria’s critical oil and gas sector.”
The CNY said that securing critical national assets of the country knew no tribe or religion but competence, adding that the firm linked to Tompolo has the capacity and required expertise to secure critical assets in the Oil and Gas industry in Nigeria.
“The fact that the country is looking inwards for solutions to our challenges is a plus for the government. As in the case of Mr Tompolo, the NNPC has indeed acted well in encouraging local content development in the oil and gas industry.
“We also wish to state that Mr Tompolo is not new to the task at hand as it is on record that he has successfully executed such contracts in times past in the country. Therefore the company’s competence to deliver is not in doubt, which remains a win for the country.
“The coalition wishes to advise those vested interests neck deep in the oil theft regime to desist from heating the polity with half-truths on the objective of the contract to secure oil infrastructures in the country. They must realize that the wealth of Nigeria belongs to Nigerians across ethnic and religious affiliations,” he added.
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