• Agip pipeline hit for second time in one week, vandals arrested
• MEND calls for end of attacks as presidency considers Alaibe for Amnesty post
• Report: Shell paid $5bn to FG in 2015
There are strong indications that former
President Goodluck Jonathan may have gone into temporary self exile in
Cote d’Ivoire, following reports that the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) may arrest him on his arrival in Nigeria from his
overseas tour on allegations of corruption and misappropriation of
billions of dollars in the five years during which he was Head of State,
THISDAY has learnt.
Several sources close to the
ex-president, who confirmed that Jonathan had sought refuge last week in
the West African country, also blamed the heightened attacks on oil and
gas installations by Ijaw militants in the Niger Delta, resulting in
the loss of an estimated 800,000-900,000 barrels of crude oil per day
(bpd), to what they claimed was “the decision by President Muhammadu
Buhari to renege on his promise that his predecessor had ‘nothing to
fear’ from him (Buhari) after he handed over the reins of power on May
29, 2015”.
Immediately after his electoral victory
in 2015 and at his presidential inauguration, Buhari, in what was seen
as a political gesture, had stated that he would not go after his
successor, despite allegations that the former president had presided
over widespread corruption during his five years in the saddle.
However, since Jonathan’s departure,
anti-corruption agencies led by the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) have swept in on several associates of the former
president on allegations of money laundering, diversion of public funds
and contract scams, mostly linked to defence sector contracts and the
purchase of arms used for the prosecution of the war against Boko Haram
in the North-east.
In recent weeks, the EFCC has in
addition to arresting and prosecuting several public office holders who
served under the Jonathan administration, arrested some of the closest
allies of the former president including his cousin, Mr. Aziobola
Robert, in connection to a $40 million pipeline surveillance contract,
and his former principal secretary and confidant Mr. Hassan Tukur.
These arrests were said to have shaken
the former president, given that they were the two persons closest to
him during his presidency.
A source, who spoke to THISDAY on
Jonathan’s decision to give Nigeria a wide berth, said the former
president was reliably warned by security sources of the plan to arrest
him once he stepped into the country, hence his decision to seek exile
in Cote d’Ivoire.
Jonathan, the source disclosed, departed
Nigeria for the United States almost two months ago travelling to
several cities but stayed in New York for some two weeks. After
departing the US, he travelled to London to be with his children for a
few days, preparatory to his return to Nigeria.
But while in the UK, he was warned by
sympathetic officials in different arms of government of the
government’s decision to arrest him once he returned to Nigeria.
On getting wind of the plan, Jonathan,
THISDAY gathered, contacted a few West African leaders including the
President of Cote d’Iviore, Mr. Alassane Outtara, who offered him a safe
haven until the coast is clear for him to return to Nigeria.
Sources close to the president said
since the information of the government’s resolve to arrest Jonathan
swept through the Niger Delta, Ijaw militants have gone berserk and
stepped up their attacks on oil and gas installations in the region.
They are said to be hell bent on shutting down oil output completely.
One source said the militants are
targeting all onshore and shallow water installations, from where
Nigeria derives the bulk of 90 per cent of its foreign exchange earnings
and may head for the deep offshore oil fields if the federal government
does not back down.
“Perhaps the only installations that may
not be affected in the interim by militant attacks are those in the
deep offshore basin because they are more difficult to reach and would
require large vessels to access,” said the source who, however, added
that “during the last militant crises we went as far as shutting down
the Bonga deep water oil field”.
In order to stem the renewed wave of
attacks, governors in the region have scrambled and sent teams to the
creeks to placate the militants, but so far their efforts appear to have
fallen on deaf ears.
The governors are particularly concerned
that the attacks on oil installations would hurt the Niger Delta states
the most due to the attendant decline in revenue.
When contacted on the plan by the
government to arrest Jonathan and his purported exile, Buhari’s media
adviser, Mr. Femi Adesina, said he was not aware that the former
president was in exile, adding that questions on his arrest could only
be addressed by the security and law enforcement agencies.
Alaibe Considered for Amnesty Post
On its part, the presidency, THISDAY
learnt, is seriously considering reaching out to the former Managing
Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and first
Presidential Adviser on the Amnesty Programme, Mr. Timi Alaibe, to
return to run the affairs of the Presidential Amnesty Programme.
A source in the presidency told THISDAY
that Buhari who is very disturbed by the incessant attacks on oil
installations in the region and its impact on the country’s finances, is
mulling the advise of a senior security and intelligence chief, who has
recommended that Alaibe be brought back to manage the amnesty office.
The goal, the presidency source
explained, is to get Alaibe, who was the architect of the
reconciliation, rehabilitation and reintegration programme for
ex-militants who laid down their arms in 2009, to use his links with the
former and current militants to arrest the bombings in the Niger Delta.
The source added that the current
occupier of the office, Brigadier General Paul Boroh (rtd), may be eased
out of the job, just as two key ministers from the Niger Delta region
have reportedly received verbal queries from Buhari over the security
breaches in the region.
“Even though the nation’s security
agencies are on top of the situation in the region, the affected
officials have been accused of not doing enough to solve the problem.
“The perception in the presidency is
that the amnesty man (Boroh) is far detached from the people, he does
not know the militants well, and we cannot just go into a military
operation that will take innocent lives in the name of looking for the
boys when there is an easier way to reach the militants and rebuild
confidence.
“I think at our level, we have done our
bit by suggesting to the political leadership to bring Timi Alaibe on
board so that we can avoid some of these military operations.
“I can bet you that once we engage in any operation, it will take a minimum of 16 months to complete because times have changed.
“It is now very clear to the president
that some of the ministers from the Niger Delta are not on ground,” the
source in the presidency said.
Since the resurgence of attacks in the
Niger Delta, Nigeria’s oil output has fallen to a 22-year low of 1.4
million barrels per day (mbpd), against the budgetary target of 2.2mbpd.
The attacks, which have also targeted
gas infrastructure in the region, have also impacted negatively on
electricity output from thermal power stations that are reliant on gas
to power their turbines. This has led to constant system failures and
prolonged blackouts nationwide.
Agip Pipeline Bombed Again
Despite the government’s efforts to
stem the bombings in the region, suspected Niger Delta militants early
yesterday morning bombed the Tebidaba to Brass pipeline belonging to the
Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) at Ikienghenbiri community in Southern
Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State for the second time in one week.
Last Tuesday, militants blew up a gas
pipeline belonging to the Italian oil giant that supplies crude oil
through Tumor community in Bomadi, Delta State to Ogbuasiri in Ekeremor
and Ogbembiri in Southern Ijaw, both in Bayelsa State.
Yesterday’s attack made it a dozen times
this year that various oil installations operated by the company have
been destroyed by the armed youths suspected to be militants in the
state.
Before the two attacks in one week,
armed militants breached a pipeline located at Brass Local Government
Area (LGA) of Bayelsa State, leading to an oil spill in the area.
Earlier in the year, there was an attack
at Kpongbokiri, which came on the heels of two attacks at Orukari and
Golubokiri. That was just before a suspect, Seimghale Perekeyi, was
apprehended for planting and detonating the dynamite that killed three
oil workers in an oil platform belonging to Agip.
During yesterday’s attack, the gunmen
suspected to have been led by persons identified as Suoyou, Iyelawei and
Fynboy, believed to be residing within the community were said to have
vandalised the pipeline and setting it ablaze.
It wasn’t clear what the motive for the
latest bombing was, however, sources from the community claimed that a
bloody clash between rival pipeline contractors over a surveillance
contract led to the attack of the trunkline.
A resident of Ikienghenbiri who
preferred to remain anonymous, disclosed that the groups were struggling
for control of the Ogboinbiri-Tebidaba crude trunkline which passes
through the area, revealing that the latest bombing was meant to
sabotage the group that had been awarded the surveillance contract.
“We understand it is a conflict between
two armed groups for access to the crude pipeline. One group claimed to
be working to safeguard the pipeline and said the other group were
vandals; they were shooting at one another,” he said.
It was gathered that the pipeline was
set ablaze when the two groups engaged one another in a gun battle even
as a thick cloud of smoke billowed from the scene.
But operatives of the Nigeria Security
and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) who stormed the community shortly after
the incident reportedly apprehended one of the suspects.
Confirming the incident, the state
Commandant of NSCDC, Mr. Desmond Agu, said one of the militants
identified as Peregbakumo was arrested through the help of the community
leaders in the area.
The civil defence chief said he had
summoned an emergency meeting of senior officers of the command and
given them marching orders to secure all pipelines, oil installations
and other critical national assets in the affected areas.
He identified the facility attacked by
the militants as a pipeline along the Azuzuama axis of the
Tebidaba-Brass trunkline, adding that the facility was attacked with
dynamites at about 12.30 am yesterday.
The commandant said after the attack,
the armed youths laid ambush in the community and shot a civilian member
of the Oil and Gas Task Force in the leg.
He said the youths took off on sighting
the gunboat of NSCDC, adding that his operatives later arrested
Peregbakumo following the assistance of the community.
“At about 0300hrs, a gang of armed
youths allegedly led by one Suoyou, Iyelawei and Fyneboy, all of
Ikienghenbiri community, Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, vandalised
the pipeline along Azuzuama axis of the Tebidaba-Brass pipeline with
dynamites and ignited fire on the line.
“Through community help, we were able to
arrest one of the suspects and he was used to identify some of the
fleeing suspects. There was a lot of community collaboration and we are
grateful to the community because they don’t like what the armed youths
are doing,” Agu said.
Later yesterday, a statement issued in
Yenagoa by the Bayelsa State Commissioner for Information and
Orientation, Mr. Jonathan Obuebite, said the leaders of the pipeline
vandals – Suoyou, Iyelawei and Fyneboy – were apprehended by youths of
Azuzuama community, who got wind of the planned action.
They were arrested with the support of operatives of the NSCDC and one of them was shot in the leg while trying to escape.
Obuebite expressed delight that the
arrests were coming on the heels of Governor Seriake Dickson’s meeting
with traditional rulers and Chairmen of Community Development
Communities (CDC), during which the governor directly placed the
responsibility of maintaining peace and safeguarding oil facilities in
their domains on their shoulders.
The commissioner praised the youths of
Azuzuama community “for their galantry, patriotic disposition and
commitment to the peace and economic well being of the state and Nigeria
as a whole”.
According to him, Dickson would “invite
them and reward them for responding positively to his clarion call when
it mattered most”.
MEND Calls for End of Attacks
Reacting to the rising waves of
militant attacks on oil installation in the oil-rich region, the
Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), a group of
ex-militants, yesterday resolved to continue to respect the unilateral
ceasefire of hostilities which it declared on May 30, 2014.
The group urged those behind the attacks
to stop the bombing of oil and gas installations and allow President
Mohammad Buhari to fulfill his electoral promises.
In a statement issued in Yenagoa, Reuben
Wilson, also known as General Pastor, MEND called on the aggrieved
youths from the region to shun the temptation of resorting to violence
and destruction of oil installations.
“The Movement for the Emancipation of
the Niger Delta (MEND) wishes to condemn and dissociate itself from the
recent activities carried out by a group known as the ‘Niger Delta
Avengers’.
“Their sudden emergence has absolutely
nothing to do with the Niger Delta struggle, but is rather a tool by
certain elements to destabilise the current government.
“Going by their actions and subsequent statements, it has become very apparent on who the sponsors of these group are.
“MEND serves notice to the international
community that the Niger Delta region shall not be part of a
secessionist Biafran State.
“Rather, the group believes in one
strong united Nigerian federation where the principles and ideals of
resource control; true federalism; the rule of law/respect for human
rights; democracy; free enterprise; and a vibrant civil society are well
entrenched in the grund norm and put to practice,” the group said.
MEND reiterated its call for the release
of the Okah brothers – Henry and Charles – who were arrested in 2010 on
what it called “trumped-up charges”.
Shell Paid FG $5bn in 2015
Meanwhile, a new report by Royal
Dutch Shell Plc has revealed that Shell Nigeria paid a total of
$4,951,993,936 to the federal government from its operations in the
country in 2015, making Nigeria the highest recipient among the 24
countries that received $21.8 billion in payments from the oil
multinational during the year under review.
According to a summary of the “Report on
Payments to Governments 2015”, which was prepared by Shell and obtained
exclusively by THISDAY, the company paid a total of $21,840,825,287 to
24 countries in 2015.
The report showed that the highest
payment of $4.95 billion was made to the Nigerian government in the form
of taxes, royalties, fees and production entitlements.
The release of the Shell report is
coming ahead of the 2013 audit report to be released by the Nigerian
Extractives Transparency Industry Initiative (NEITI) today in Abuja.
According to industry sources, the NEITI
report will among others, highlight the non-remittance to the
Federation Account of dividends running into billions of dollars paid by
Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Company to the Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
In the Shell report, Malaysia received
the second-largest payment of $4,410,549.595, followed by Norway, which
got $4,156,888,087; Oman – $2,112,924,584; Iraq – $1,359,249,519; Qatar
– $989,657,810; Australia -$878,133,272; Denmark – $576,148,422;
Philippines- $486,917,661; China – $459,242,357; Gabon – $353,033,264;
and United States – $352,073,695.
Others included Italy – $207,038,856;
Egypt – $185,566,882; Canada – $150,648,725; New Zealand – $123,893,867;
Brunei Darussalam – $103,937,853; Brazil – $69,477,599; Argentina –
$23,067,771; Ireland – $4,877,756; Germany – $4,404,123; Jordan –
$3,000,000; Indonesia – $1,000,000; and the United Kingdom, which the
report showed paid back $122,900,344 to Shell.
Of the $4.95 billion paid to the
Nigerian government, $378,551,263 and $200,638,000 were paid to the
Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) as royalties and fees,
respectively, bringing the total payment made to the regulatory agency
to $579,189,263.
Other payments that constituted the
$4.95 billion included $717,920,620 paid to the Federal Inland Revenue
service (FIRS) as taxes; $291,115 paid into the Federation Account with
the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN); $46,946,550 paid to the Niger Delta
Development Commission (NDDC) as three per cent levy; and $3,607,646,387
paid to NNPC as production entitlement.
The $717,920,620 paid to the FIRS
included payment in kind of $457,824,860 for 8,996,000 barrels of oil
equivalent valued at market price.
A further breakdown of the $4.95 billion
payment to the Nigerian government showed that the $3,607,646,387 paid
to the NNPC included payment in kind for 114,069,000 barrels of oil
equivalent at market value.
Under what Shell referred to as payments
for projects in the 1993 Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs),
$799,332,160 was paid as production entitlement, $368,870,290 as taxes,
and $37,424,320 as royalties on Oil Prospecting Lease (OPL) 212, now Oil
Mining Lease (OML) 118 and OPL 219, now OML 135.
The Bonga field, which is operated by
Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Ltd (SNEPCo) under a
PSC for NNPC, which holds the lease, is in OML 118 (formerly OPL 212).
The massive Bonga field consists of Bonga Main, Bonga South West/Aparo and Bonga North West.
SNEPCo holds a 55 per cent contractor
interest in OML 118. The other co-venturers are Esso Exploration &
Production Nigeria Ltd (20 per cent), Total E&P Nigeria Ltd (12.5
per cent) and Nigerian Agip Exploration Ltd (12.5 per cent).
OML 135 contains the Bolia and Doro fields, where SNEPCo also holds a 55 per cent contractor interest.
The sum of $368,870,290 included payment
in kind of the said amount for 6,996,000 barrels of oil equivalent
valued at market price.
Also the $799,332,160 included payment
in kind of the said amount for 14,732,000 barrels of oil equivalent
valued at market price.
The royalties of $37,424,320 also
included payment in kind of the said amount for 703,000 barrels of oil
equivalent at market price.
The report also showed that $88,954,570
was paid as taxes for OML 209 under a 1993 PSC, which included payment
in kind of the said amount for 2,000,000 barrels of oil equivalent
valued at market price.
The federal government also received
$1,592,115,125 as production entitlement from Shell Petroleum
Development Company’s (SPDC) eastern operation, and this included
payment in kind of the said amount for 76,215,000 barrels of oil
equivalent value at market price.
SPDC West also paid $798,332,523 as
production entitlement and this included payment in kind of the said
amount for 15,054,000 barrels of oil equivalent valued at market price.
The sum of $417,866,579 was paid by SPDC
shallow water as production entitlement and this included payment in
kind of the said amount for 8,068,000 barrels of oil equivalent valued
at market price.
Under what Shell also described as
entity level payment, SPDC paid $260,095,760 as taxes, $341,126,943 as
royalties and $247,875,666 as fees, making a total of $849,098,369.
Shell said it made the payments to
the various countries in the form of production entitlements, taxes,
royalties, dividends, bonuses, as well as licence fees, rental fees,
entry fees and other considerations for licences and/or concessions.
Culled from Thisday
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