IYC urges Senate to reject Reps version of PIB to avoid crisis in N’Delta

Foremost Ijaw youth organization, the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), has called on the leadership of the Senate to jettison the House of Representatives version of the proposed Petroleum Industry Bill describing the decision taken by the House as capable of igniting fresh crisis in the Niger Delta region.

IYC spoke in reaction to recently decision taken by House of Representatives where it reportedly expanded the application of the Petroleum Host Community Fund in the PIB to cover the entire Nigeria states where there is oil refinery or oil pipelines and also reduct the percentage of the host community fund from 10 to 7. 5.

“The IYC call on the Senate to reject the House of Representative version of the Petroleum Industry Bill and revert to the original provision of 10% for host communities which are already defined in the NDDC Act”.

“The IYC has noted the deliberate attempts by the some sections of Nigeria to provoke the Niger Delta region to action at all cost. We call on Niger Deltans to be alert as the  todays ahead may be rough for the region.We must resist the resolve of the enemies of the region to enslave us at all cost.

Reacting to the development weekend, IYC through its spokesman, Eric Omare said that the decision was a deliberate attempt to frustrate the implementation of the provision in the Petroleum Industry Bill adding that it was ridiculous, senseless and spat on the face of the oil bearing communities of the Niger-Delta region.

According to IYC, it must be noted that the provision for petroleum host community fund was not included in the PIB for the fun of it but to ameliorate the effect of oil gas operations in the host communities.

The group therefore said it totally reject both the reduction in the oil community fund from 10% to 7.5% and the expansion of the meaning of oil communities.

Specifically, IYC said that the definition of oil bearing communities and states in Nigeria is not in doubt adding however that the National Assembly via the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Act Cap N86, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 has already defined oil producing communities and the states.

The group said based on these, it finds it ridiculous that the House of Reps is now finding it difficult to define oil producing communities or giving another definition from what is already contained in the NDDC Act.

“To give another definition of oil producing communities side by side with the definition in the NDDC Act amounts to complete illegality, legislative rascality and incompetence”, IYC postulated.

Nonetheless, the group warned those it called enemies of the Niger Delta region not to take the collective resolve of the region to alone peace reign for granted adding that it would resist any attempt to enslave the region.