The Presidency on Monday denied allegations that it was treating oil major, Chevron, with kid gloves in the matter of the oil spillage that occurred of the coast of Bayelsa State.
In a statement on Monday, the Presidency urged the Action Congress of Nigeria, which levelled the allegation in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji L:ai Mohammed, not to weep more than the bereaved.
It said it had done enough for residents of Koloama, Bayelsa State, mainly affected by the spillage that occurred from Chevron’s oil rig explosion in the community.
The statement by presidential spokesman, Dr. Reuben Abati, said: “Alhaji Mohammed should resist the temptation to weep more than the bereaved.
“I would like to remind him that accidents involving oil spills and fires and other environmental disasters arising from the oil industry are complicated and are not matters that you rush over.”
Abati said although the explosion occurred at the height of the fuel subsidy crisis, the government gave priority attention to the matter by setting the necessary machinery in motion to manage the disaster.
He recalled that President Goodluck Jonathan promptly dispatched the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Allison-Maduekwe, to the scene for an on-the-spot assessment.
Abati said this was to determine its extent and what needed to be done to relieve the suffering of the community and ensure that the threat to the people’s lives and livelihood was contained.
He said Jonathan personally visited Koluama community on February 27 to, among other things, empathise with the community and confirm the requirements for addressing the damage done to the community.
Abati said after the President’s visit, the Presidential Adviser on Niger Delta Matters, Kingsley Kuku, visited the island on March 6 on the orders Jonathan to commence skill acquisition programmes for youths and women in the affected communities.
The presidential spokesman said to meet the people’s immediate needs, NEMA, Chevron, the Ministries of Environment and Niger Delta Affairs, were also directed to assist the communities, providing relief materials.
He added: “It is not true that the Federal Government is treating Chevron with ‘kid gloves’.
“Jonathan has been actively involved with the Koluama communities since his days as Deputy Governor and Governor of Bayelsa State; he understands their plight.
“It is also not true that all the President ‘did was to praise the people for their peaceful reaction to the disaster that has befallen them’, as claimed by Alhaji Mohammed.”