Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri has described the host community provision in the just passed Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) by the National Assembly as a time bomb, warning that if not properly addressed it could be disastrous.
He also restated the position of governors of the Southern states that it was an injustice to allot three percent of oil revenue for the host communities that bear the brunt of exploration and exploitation activities.
Diri spoke on Tuesday when he featured as guest on Channels Television breakfast current affairs programme, Sunrise Daily which was monitored by Africa Today News, New York.
He was quoted in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Alabrah, that prior to Monday’s meeting of the southern states governors in Lagos, the states had been in consultation with relevant stakeholders on their position, which he said was a minimum of 10 percent to oil producing communities.
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He said it was unthinkable and unacceptable to people of the South that a provision of 30 per cent profit of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation was inserted in the controversial bill for “frontier exploration” in areas that were not clearly specified.
Responding to a question on open grazing, Diri described cattle rearing as a private business that the states have power to regulate, stressing that there was no going back on the ban of open grazing in Bayelsa, which he said was no longer sustainable.
He stated that the ban was in force in the state since he assented to the bill on March 11, 2021.
On the issue of the governors’ resolve that the President of the country should emerge from the South in 2023, he said although it was a political decision that required consultations and lobby, a president of Southern extraction in the next election would encourage peaceful coexistence in Nigeria.
He stated: ‘Governors did not wait until now to speak on the PIB. Speaking on behalf of my state, we had a position and it was made very clear during the public hearings.
‘It is unthinkable and total injustice to allot three percent to oil producing communities. We stated our position of 10 percent.
‘The definition of host communities or oil-producing communities is also worrisome. Oil-producing communities should not be where pipelines are laid. If the issue of what an oil-producing community is not addressed, it is a time bomb that could explode.
‘The issue of cattle grazing is a commercial, private activity. I do not see why we needed anybody’s opinion to regulate a private activity. We have a duty to protect our people. That is why we have state assemblies. In Bayelsa, it already came into effect since March 11, 2021. Open grazing is no longer sustainable. We need to stop it’ he submitted.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK