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Article

28 Aug 2018

Author:
Stanley Opara, The Guardian (Nigeria)

Nigeria: Oil companies urged to ensure oil-rich Niger Delta benefits; including from taxes

"Communities reject oil firms’ refusal to relocate headquaters to Niger Delta"

Communities in the Niger Delta have insisted that international oil companies (IOCs) must relocate their headquarters to the region given the magnitude of their projects and the environmental challenges their operations pose to the people. The leaders of the communities...maintained that it was only fair and logical that the oil majors relocate their headquarters to areas where they have significant business presence...

The directive followed a response to the requests made by various interest groups in Akwa Ibom State during a town hall meeting where he assured the people 0that the Federal Government was proposing a new vision for the oil-producing communities. Most of the IOCs have their headquarters in Lagos, a distance of hundreds of kilometers from the oil-rich region. The people have long complained that while oil exploration activities had polluted their environment, the multinationals were paying taxes and other benefits to another state. A member of the 2009 Technical Committee on Niger Delta and Eket community leader, Chief Nduesi Essien, said it was unfair for the firms to operate outside the oil-producing settlements.