The Bayelsa State Government has urged the Inter-Agency Technical Committee set up by the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) for the plotting of crude oil and gas well coordinates to be transparent and impartial in carrying out its assignment.
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Deputy Governor Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo made the call on Thursday during a presentation of the state government’s position on disputed oil and gas wells at his office in Government House, Yenagoa.
In a statement signed by his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Mr. Doubara Atasi, Senator Ewhrudjakpo described the Committee’s task as critical and stressed the need for objectivity, fairness and truthfulness to promote justice and peaceful coexistence between Bayelsa and its neighbours.
He commended the Chairman and Management of the RMAFC for setting up the Committee and expressed optimism that its findings would serve as a veritable guide in the Commission’s decision-making.
He emphasized that Bayelsa State would not lay claim to what does not rightfully belong to it, but would do everything within its powers to protect its God-given resources.
On the disputed Soku Oilfield, Senator Ewhrudjakpo, who described RMAFC as an agency with institutional memory, expressed hope that the Commission would be guided by its previous decisions and statements regarding the long-standing disagreement between Bayelsa and Rivers states.
His words: “On behalf of the Governor, we thank the Chairman of RMAFC for setting up this Inter-Agency Technical Committee to carry out this exercise. I think the last time this was done was either in 2004 or 2005.
“We’ve been expecting this for a long time, so we are happy to have you in our state. You will visit all the areas where we have disputes with our neighbours.
“In Bayelsa, we believe in the spirit of complementation and give-and-take. So be very objective in your assessment. We want you to be our guide. Whatever you look at and, in your opinion, is not legal, justiciable or ours, we will happily relinquish.
“But we will not allow anybody to take what we strongly believe is ours. We will protect our land and resources. So, you really have to look at everything objectively.”
Making a PowerPoint presentation of the state’s position to the Committee, the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Nimibofa Ayawei, said Bayelsa currently has 49 onshore and 14 offshore oilfields.
According to him, there are about 13 unplotted oil wells, 12 non-producing fields for joint verification, and several disputed fields, including the famous Soku Oilfield, Biseni Oilfield, Obiafu, Ubie and the Nda-Okwori OML 126 oilfields.
Providing legal and historical perspectives, Prof. Ayawei urged the Committee to examine the plethora of evidence at its disposal and plot the newly identified unplotted oil wells in favour of Bayelsa.
Earlier, the Chairperson of the Inter-Agency Technical Committee, Dr. Khadija Suleiman-Bello, explained that the Committee was set up early this year with members drawn from the National Boundary Commission, the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission.
Dr. Suleiman-Bello, who is the Director of Crude Oil at RMAFC, assured that the Committee would carry out its assignment dispassionately in the interest of justice, fairness and peace.
She was accompanied to Government House by 16 members, including Dr. Samiu Ayinde of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and a representative of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, Mrs. Aisha Musa.
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