9th October, 2022
By Nathan Nwakamma
Governor Douye Diri has lauded the resolution of the Senate mandating the return of the Atala Marginal Oilfield, owned by the state government.
Earlier on Thursday, the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petitions resolved that the oilfield be returned to its original owners.
This comes after due investigation of the controversial revocation and sale of Oil Mining Licence 46 (OML 46) to a private firm.
The committee stated that the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Resources Commission (NUPRC), formerly the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), failed to show evidence that the President directed the award of the oilfield to a private firm.
It also chided the NUPRC for disobeying a presidential directive that the original owners of the oilfield be given the right of first refusal in the award of OML 46 in accordance with best practice.
In a statement issued in Yenagoa by Diri’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr Daniel Alabrah, on Sunday, the governor said the Senate’s decision met the expectations of the state government and the Bayelsa people.
He restated the position of the government that the oilfield was a prized asset of the state and that the people were sentimentally attached to it.
Diri maintained that the April 2020 revocation and the eventual sale of the asset were controversial and shocked the people of the state.
NAN