By Jeremiah Urowayino

A member of the House of Representatives, Mr. Daniel Reyenieju,  has described the recent contract by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, for engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning and financing for the 614km Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano, AKK, gas pipeline and stations as a clear indication of the  nonchalant approach which the Federal Government is adopting towards addressing issues concerning the oil bearing and producing areas of the Niger Delta region.

The lawmaker, who represents Warri federal constituency, Delta State, said: “For close to a decade, the Ogidigben (in Warri South-West LG, Delta State) Gas City project has been in the pipeline without any appreciable progress.”

Hon. Daniel Reyenieju

He wondered why the Federal Government should display such unfathomable zeal in executing the AKK gas pipeline and station projects when all the gas that will be required will be piped from the Niger Delta region.

He faulted the “Present situation where gas from the region are piped to other regions to enhance their industrialization and with the aim of producing at low costs, while the gas- producing communities cannot benefit from the gas as the communities have been permanently neglected by the Federal Government in providing the requisite climate for industrialization”

He said government’s discriminatory attitude is evident in its handling of issues affecting oil-bearing and producing communities in the region, adding that it shows that the Federal Government was least prepared to remedy the mistakes of the past.

Reyenieju appealed to the Federal Government to adhere to the principle of equity and fairness in the handling of issues relating to the oil producing region.