The 16-point Demand Niger Delta stakeholders present to Buhari
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| President Buhari and Chief Alfred Diete-Spiff |
Chief Alfred Diete-Spiff, the Chairman of Bayelsa State Traditional Council, confirmed this development to State House correspondents in Abuja after a meeting between President Buhari and the stakeholders from the region.
According to Diete-Spiff, some of the other demands border on the need to fast-track interventions on some of the indicative regional infrastructure, the Presidential Amnesty Programme, law and Justice as well as the need to reconsider the planned deployment of more armed forces to the Niger Delta.
Diete-Spiff said the stakeholders also presented the issues of the relocation of administrative and operational headquarters of oil companies to the region, power supply, inclusive participation in oil industry and ownership.
“The 16-point included, generally whatever we say, infrastructure development, manpower and human resources and of course, you have the welfare of the people.
“These are the main things:
“The locations of the oil companies, is one of the points that we pointed out.
“These IOCs (international oil companies) have their headquarters somewhere in Lekki or Abuja and even their operational headquarters are not within the area of their operations.
“This is not right because even the `pay as you earn tax’ is not coming to the region.
“The workers, nobody is engaged locally there; they just come and harvest and go away.
“The presence of the military, of course, you know, has been agitating the boys and that too we said it should be reversed.’’
Diete-Spiff assured that the people of the Niger Delta region remained committed to achieving peace and progress of the country.
He stated that the region had resolved to help the President Buhari-led administration to succeed.
He said, “our position, we hasten to add, takes full cognizance of the current parlous state of our economy.
“We would also like to assure you that we the people of the Niger Delta, as patriotic and law-abiding citizens, remain committed to the unity, peace and progress of this great country.
“Our resolve as leaders of the region, is to do all, within our power, to help this administration to succeed.
“In particular, is the urgent need for us to pull the national economy out of recession through a speedy solution to the spate of militant agitation.
“We are therefore, totally committed to creating the right environment, in our communities to ensure that the wealth, which God has placed in our own part of the country, continues to be available to the benefit of all.’’
In his remarks, The Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, who also spoke at the event, said the Niger Delta stakeholders also asked for the review of the Niger Delta Amnesty Programme and proper funding of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs.
He said the stakeholders also asked for business opportunities especially allocation of oil blocs to indigenes, and also some level of support for those who were displaced as a result of the activities of the militants in the region.
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