Oil producing communities in the Niger Delta region has lamented the refusal of the Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC to pay them N6, 936,899,900 being outstanding rentals, expires leases and re-acquisition fees.
The Senate had in its recent resolution on the matter mandated the company to pay the affected communities the amount without further delay following a petition received from them.
But the communities, in a petition on their behalf from Bekele Jones and Associates to the upper legislative chamber, lamented the non-payment of outstanding rentals for the Port Harcourt Oloibiri pipeline, the Oloibiri field, and the entire Utapate/Akwa Ibom fields.
Clerk of the National Assembly, CAN, Alhaji Mohammed Sani-Omolori, had in a separate letters dated March 4, 2019 and addressed to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Mr. Boss Mustapha and the Managing Director, SPDC conveyed the resolution to them for appropriate action.
The Senate had resolved that the SPDC should pay a uniform rate of N600, 000 per hectre of land as rent per annum for all loss of use of surface rights from 2014.
The upper legislative chamber adopted the resolutions of the Senator Samuel Anyawu-led Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions on January 24, 2019.
It also directed the multinational company to “cancel all long term leases of 99 years already imposed on landowners and comply with the provisions of the Oil Pipeline Act which stipulate a term of 20 years only.”
Similarly, the Senate resolved that SPDC should respect powers of attorney donated by landowners to their agents/consultants to negotiate for them and receive their rentals from the multi-national company.
