…insist PIA already guarantees community participation

…urge agitators to focus on raising HOSTCOM Fund from 3% to 6%

By Joseph Erunke, Abuja

Leaders of Niger Delta host communities, members of the House of Representatives, and key regional stakeholders have firmly rejected growing calls for the decentralisation of the Tantita Pipeline Surveillance Contract, declaring that the Petroleum Industry Act ,PIA 2021, already provides a comprehensive legal framework for community participation in pipeline protection across the oil-rich region.

The position was adopted at a Joint Retreat of the House of Representatives Committee on Host Communities (HOSTCOM) and Public Petitions, attended by leaders of oil-bearing communities and local government areas hosting oil and gas facilities.

In a motion presented during the retreat, participants argued that demands for the fragmentation or redistribution of the Tantita surveillance contract were unnecessary and inconsistent with the provisions of the PIA, which they said had already institutionalised decentralisation through the Host Communities Development Trust framework.

According to the stakeholders, Chapter 3 of the PIA (Sections 234–258) empowers host communities to actively participate in safeguarding critical oil and gas infrastructure through recognised structures backed by law, while also providing a statutory three per cent operational expenditure allocation for community development.

The gathering expressed concern over what it described as “misleading campaigns” advocating the decentralisation of the surveillance contract currently handled by Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited.

The leaders stressed that the Tantita arrangement remains a private commercial contract between the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), acting on behalf of the Federal Government, and Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited, and therefore does not fall within the statutory HOSTCOM framework established by the PIA.

They warned that continued agitation over the contract could divert attention from more critical issues affecting the region, particularly the ongoing campaign to increase the host community allocation under the PIA from three per cent to six per cent.

As part of its resolutions, the retreat reaffirmed that the decentralised structures already embedded in the Petroleum Industry Act remain the legitimate and lawful avenue for host communities to participate in pipeline surveillance and infrastructure protection.

The stakeholders also made it clear that the Tantita contract was not designed for ethnic, regional, or political sharing, insisting that all calls for its decentralisation should cease.

Instead, they urged Niger Delta leaders, youth organisations, traditional rulers, and community advocates to unite behind efforts to secure a higher share of oil industry benefits for host communities through legislative amendments to the PIA.

The meeting concluded by reaffirming support for initiatives aimed at protecting critical oil assets, boosting crude oil production, and sustaining peace and stability in the Niger Delta through lawful and institutional mechanisms established under existing legislation.

The stakeholders maintained that strengthening the HOSTCOM framework and increasing community benefits,not dismantling existing surveillance arrangements,should remain the region’s priority.