Bayelsa lawmaker warns Kachikwu over N’ Delta consultations

A member of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly representing Brass Constituency 1, Hon. Isreal Sunny Igoli, on Sunday warned the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, to treat with caution his ongoing consultations with the State Governors from the Niger Delta region over security of oil and gas pipelines in the region.

According to Hon. Sunny Igoli, though the need to provide needed security for oil and gas pipelines was urgent due to the recent cases of attacks by militants, the ongoing consultations must involve all major stakeholders in the region other than the State Governors.

“The discussions between the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and governors of the six South-South states on pipelines surveillance is skewed without the involvement of leaders of the people like Chief Timipre Sylva, Bayelsa State All Progressives Congress leader; Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi, who is the Minister of Transport, Chief Umana Umana of Akwa Ibom State, and others.”

Sunny-Goli expressed the concern that the ongoing discussion between Minister Ibe Kachikwu and the Niger Delta Governors may be a deliberate attempts to exclude the All Progressives Congress (APC) family in the region.