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IYC warns of anarchy as NASS plans PIB revision
Ijaw youths, under the umbrella of the Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide, IYC, has kicked against the removal of the 10 per cent Host Community Fund in the revised Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, set to be laid before the two chambers of the National Assembly, warning that the move would lead to anarchy.
The National Assembly had indicated that the revised PIB is scheduled to be laid before both chambers when members resume from their Easter break.
However, the Host Community Fund is believed to have been removed from the bill that has suffered many setbacks over the years.
The IYC, in a statement on Monday by its spokesman, Eric Omare, warned that the alleged plan to remove the funds was a grand conspiracy against the people of the oil producing areas of the Niger Delta region and an invitation to anarchy.
According to IYC, the action is a clear manifestation of the insensitivity of the Muhammadu Buhari administration to the sufferings of the oil-producing communities of the Niger Delta.
The statement reads in part: “This decision is obviously an invitation to renewed hostilities and agitations in the Niger Delta region.
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“The IYC enjoins Nigerians and men of conscience to reject this decision. We wish to also alert the world of the negative and oppressive decisions of the Buhari-led administrations towards the Niger Delta region and their implications for peace and security in the region.
“The removal of the oil-producing communities’ development fund from the PIB is a design by northern elements to continue their grip of the oil resources found in the Niger Delta region.
“The oil communities development fund is a laudable initiative aimed at making oil-producing communities’ stakeholders in the oil resources that are produced in their communities and address sabotage and associated challenges.
“We call on members of the National Assembly, especially those from the Niger Delta region, to reject this oppressive, anti-Niger Delta and retrogressive decision.”
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