The renewed agitation over
ownership of oil wells being claimed by Kogi, Anambra and Enugu states will
soon be a thing of past as the senate has mandated its committee on petroleum
(upstream) to investigate the matter.
On Thursday, Chukwuka Utazi
(Enugu-PDP) raised a point-of-order on the matter seeking the intervention of
the Upper Chamber to stem brewing crisis among the three states laying claim to
the oil wells.
Referring to order 43, the
lawmaker alleged that Anambra government had used one of its appointees, Prince
Emu, to grant an interview, stating that Anambra was an oil-producing state.
Utazi said the federal government
realised that it was an error for former President Goodluck Jonathan’s
administration to refer to Anambra as oil-producing state and withdrew the
status.
According to him, withdrawing the
status from Anambra is based on the fact that the state has not been confirmed
as oil-producing.
Utazi said: “President and
distinguished colleagues, the oil-producing status on Anambra state has since
been withdrawn. This is already brewing violence among communities laying claim
to the oil wells.
“We know what we did in the past
to restore peace among those warring communities and election period is around
the corner and we do not want any crisis.’’
In his contribution, Andy Uba
(Anambra-APC) insisted that Anambra was an oil-producing state, saying “what my
colleague, Utazi, is saying is not correct.
“They said any state that
produces 120,000 barrels of oil per day is qualified as an oil-producing state
and that is why Anambra was conferred with that status.’’
Senate President Bukola Saraki
referred the matter to the committee on petroleum with an order to turn in its
report in two weeks.
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