By Orobosa Omo-Ojo

I read with amusement, the conjured write up by Mr. Christopher Nehikhare, Commissioner for Communication and Orientation in his attempt to fault a well received thank you message by Senator Monday Okpebholo, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for the September 21, governorship election in Edo State.

Going through the unreasonable bla bla bla talk, it is difficult to figure out the message Nehikhare tried to pass. But one can glean together that the import of his story is to paint the APC candidate as a political godson to Nehikhare’s imaginary godfathers.

The fallibility and deceptive intention of the writeup is very obvious and clear. Nehikhare conjured his claim that the APC’s interest is to return the godfathers and starve Edo people of development.

He sermonized how he watched “with disdain and utmost disappointment the embarrassing outing of Senator Monday Okpebholo, the camera-shy and ineloquent candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) wherein he promised to release the state’s resources to political leaders in exchange for their support to clinch the governorship seat.”

Nehikhare also went on to ascribe to Sen. Okpebholo, his make-believe statement that he would end the “suffering of political leaders under Godwin Obaseki, by granting them unfettered access to the people’s purse, while neglecting the state’s development and short-changing the majority of Edo people.”

Before I respond to the appropriateness of the true statement made by the APC candidate, Senator Okpebholo, it is important for the benefit of readers and Edo people in particular, to reproduce here what Okpebholo said, using Nehikare’s transcription.

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Nehikhare quoted Senator Okpebholo thus: “Whenever I talk to myself, I say to myself, I find myself in the circle of leadership. People think it is only Chief Anenih I was close to. No, I was close to Solomon Lar. I grew up in Jos. I saw how leaders suffered after putting someone in an office just like what we are suffering here.

“Okah, you’re suffering it in the hands of Obaseki. This will not repeat itself in my time because this is something that I see with leaders. By the time they go inside their bedrooms, they start crying. They have suffered, they have worked, we have done everything to make sure this person is there and he has forgotten us.

“I want to tell you one small story. When who becomes the Senate President was very hot, some people said, come here, come here and I said no, my leader is not around. Who is your leader and I said it is Adams Oshiomhole. When he comes he will tell me the direction to go.

“Now, what happened? When he came, I followed his foot step. I followed him and he took me to where I should go.”

Going through Nehikhare’s roguish transcription of Senator Okpebholo’s thank you message to leaders of APC, it is clear that Nehikhare has criminally concocted and doctored same to gain cheap milage for Obaseki’s political godson unachievable project to take over as governor from Nigeria’s No.1 political ‘Ogbomwanyese’.

Chris Nehikhare and I have severally lamented the blind political tactics that his boss, and my friend, Obaseki has deployed in Edo State since assuming office in 2016.

We have both expressed our frustrations about his decision to waste government resources to pursue vendetta missions all in his quest to assume unachievable godfather position in our dear state.

We have also at different occasions, lamented Obaseki’s attraction to things that will relegate our treasured traditional institution. We have frowned at the lack of cohesiveness in the running of Obaseki’s government.

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It is then very laughable to see Nehikhare, pointing fingers at Senator Monday Okpebholo as one that will fritter away Edo State resources when he assumes office as ‘Servant Governor’.

The indices so far shows the person that is already indebted to some outdated, wasted and consistently failed godfathers who are only administering ‘life-support’ to Mr. Asue Ighodalo, the parallel Peoples Democratic Party candidate, is most likely to hand over the state’s resources to godfathers.

Edo people are already aware of the humongous state resources the godfather and his godson, Asue Ighodalo have wasted so far, including the alleged $2m they used in buying the worthless PDP ticket.

Even as I pen this response, ‘PDP marshals’ are running round nooks and crannies with nap sack bags working hard to compromise voters who have made up their minds to take back their state from an aspiring godfather who they accuse of privatizing their state.

The rethorical list of achievements by the fast winding down Obaseki’s administration exposes Nehikare’s frustration in working for a governor that has abandoned the people after they helped to save him from political disgrace in 2020.

I say this because I am aware that the good people of Evbueghare Community in Orhionmwon Local Government Area, where Christopher Nehikhare halls from, have declared him persona non grata due to lack of government presence in the area.

I challenge Nehikhare to list the physical infrastructure he claimed Obaseki has upgraded (completed or ongoing in the State).

This administration should bury its head in disappointing shame for applauding itself for recircled eight years projects which Nehikhare listed to include: “High Court Complex, to the newly built Adams Oshiomhole Labour House, to the State Secretariat Complex, to the Edo Agricultural Hub, to the Edo Education Hub; Iyaro, to the Edo State College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Iguoriakhi, to the Edo State Colleges of Education campuses in Abudu, Igueben and Afuze.”

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Nehikhare disturbingly added the investment in road infrastructure which he scored at 700km of roads for eight years. How miserable can our expectations from a government that has an overhang of almost N1trillion in local and foreign debt. Nehikhare and his boss must think that we are all ‘mumu’ in Edo State.

The achievements Nehikare also claimed that the PDP government made in the areas of tourism, education and agriculture will be responded to in due time.

In conclusion, let me say that, by the vantage positions and roles that I have played, Edo State needed a break from ‘PowerPoint’ and ‘MoU’ governance, to a more realistic, all encompassing government by the people, for the people.

We need a more humane servant-governor that will respect all the components that have held Edo as a formidable state, not one godson that has learnt the ostentatious standards and failed promises technicalities.

Edo people are tired of a combative governor who will spend more resources to divide our cherished traditional institutions. We need a governor that will not pay lip service to the education of our children, more importantly, we need a governor that will not spend eight years to build one standard hospital.

Finally, we need a governor that will not demolish the Specialist Hospital built by Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, like Obaseki did to Central hospital, and gifted the land to his friend to build a private museum.

If I may ask, ‘who do us like this?’

Akwa Ibom State Governor, Pastor Umo Bassey Eno, has just inaugurated an additional Airbus 220 – 300 aircraft in the fleet of Ibom Air, yet Nehikhare is celebrating 700 kilometers patch-patch road after collecting $150million for flood control. We nor go gree!

Group known as Ijaw People’s Development Initiative, IPDI, has strongly condemned calls by Oodua Peoples Congress (Reformed) and Civil Society Coalition for Mandate Protection for calling for a review of Niger Delta Pipeline Surveillance Contract, awarded to Niger Delta ex-agitator, Government Oweizide Ekpemupolo alias Tompolo.

IPDI, in a statement by its national president, Comrade Ozobo Austin said it was “shameful that responsible Oodua Peoples Congress (Reformed) could allow itself to be used by merchants of confusion and blackmailers to demand for a review of Tompolo’s Surveillance Contract in Niger Delta barely a shot while of reviewing the contract.”

The group added: “We are aware that selfish and failed stakeholders who were also biding for the contract were behind verbal attacks against Tompolo and Tantita Security company. It’s only enemies of Niger Delta (sic) could at this time barely a few months of the renew of Tompolo’s Surveillance Contract, calling again for review of such a contract.

“The Oodua Congress and others, in case they forget, should know that the Niger Delta Pipeline Surveillance Contract was initiated by High Chief (Dr) Government Oweizide Ekpemupolo, it was part of the terms agreed upon during the signing of the presidential Amnesty Programme.

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“Despite the pipeline security contract being initiated by Tompolo, it was awarded to the Yorubas, Calabars, and Benins from 2009 till 2022, when the Buhari-led administration awarded part of the contract to Tompolo having observed that the activities of oil theft get increasing despite being superintendent by the Navy, NSCDC, Army and non-indigenous contractors.

“In case the Oodua Congress and others are poor students of history, they should know that the federal government revoked the pipeline surveillance from non-indigenous contractors and military because it loses confidence in them. It took the Buhari administration to sort for capable hands for a reasonable period of time before Tompolo was recommended from the security angle. Despite this recommendation, it was still part of the contract that was awarded to Tompolo.

“The bigger part which has to do with the offshore is still in the hands of the Itsekiri monarch. I feel disgusted when people of Yoruba, Itsekiri and Ilaje decide to remain mute over the large portion of the Surveillance Contract their brother is handling and continues to point fingers at Tompolo. This is very unfair and mischievous.

“Let me state unequivocally that the Nigeria crude daily production was far below a 1m barrel per day at the time Tompolo came on board, but today the narrative is no longer the same, we now approximately produce 1.7m barrels per day.

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“This was the reason the federal government decided to renew the Tompolo Surveillance Contract. Tompolo has shown capacity, resilience, competence, intelligence and resourcefulness in the fight against oil theft.

“This is a fact why the federal government will allow Tompolo to continue being in charge of the Surveillance Contract for now. The Itsekiri monarch contract is cutting across Ijaw in scope, but no Ijaw has agitated that the contract should be revoked from the Itsekiri monarch.

“I am very disappointed at some unpopular stakeholders using all mediums to incite discord against Tompolo in order to get the contract awarded to them. This is shameful and desperation taken too far.

“Again, it should be stated clearly that the government is not interested about who gets what but deeply interested about who can end oil theft in the country. Till this moment, the federal government is aware that in the whole of Niger Delta there is no one who can do the surveillance job better than Tompolo,, hence all these cheap calls for contract review will end up in a deft ears of the government for now.

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“We are aware that these unfounded calls have been sponsored by oil thieves and greedy contractors. Their reason is not far fetched, they want the surveillance contract to be given to the military or inexperienced and incompetent contractor to create a room for them to continue their oil theft business.

“The government is aware of the sinister intention of those calling on president Bola Ahmed Tinubu to review or revoke the Tompolo pipeline surveillance contract.

“The whole gamut of the call to review Tompolo’s Surveillance Contract is being manipulated by corrupt and greedy fellows. To think of it, despite the contract being awarded to Tompolo’s Surveillance Company, it is still being handled by boys, men and women in such areas or tribes where such operations are carried out.

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“No foreigner is employed to do the job. All the subcontractors are indigenes of the oil and gas communities in Niger Delta.
It is a known fact the contract can’t accommodate everybody in the whole community, maybe that is what some referred to as marginalisation, I don’t know.

“But what I know is that no community under Tompolo’s Surveillance coverage is marginalised and sidelined.

“Therefore, I advised mischief makers and enemies of progress in Niger Delta to repent from their stock in trade and engage themselves in productive activities, rather than blackmailing and betraying a fellow brother for bread and meat.

“It is part of my appeal to the federal government to ignore and disregard sinister calls of perceived oil thieves to pave the way to continue their business”.

Oil dealers under the aegis of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, on Tuesday, declared that it would shut down the 30,000 stations operated by IPMAN members across the country if the Federal Government fails to pay the N200bn that is being owed marketers.

IPMAN specifically said the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, an agency of the Federal Government, had refused to clear the debt, which had continued to accrue since September 2022.

It disclosed this in a communique issued in Abuja by the Chairman of IPMAN Depot Chairmen Forum, Yahaya Alhassan, over the non-payment of marketers’ bridging claims. IPMAN controls over 30,000 filling stations in Nigeria.

Bridging claims are payments made by the government to oil marketers for the transportation of petroleum products loaded from depots to various states across the country.

Alhassan said the consequences of the failure by NMDPRA to pay the N200bn “will be terrible, as every marketer’s outlet across Nigeria, from the North to the South, and from the East to the West, will be shut down.”

He added, “As IPMAN, we have taken every step in the past to salvage this unfortunate and looming situation, which we know will not augur well for Nigerians, but we are presently left with no option than to go all out in the next few days to address this ugly trend in our own way, which will portend great hardship and danger for Nigerians.”

The IPMAN official pointed out that at a stakeholders meeting held on February 20, 2024, with the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, and the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, the Chief Executive of NMDPRA, Farouk Ahmed, was mandated by Lokpobiri to clear the entire debt in 40 days.

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“However, today we have crossed the 40 day time-lapse given to the NMDPRA to clear the debt, and it is shameful to state that only the paltry sum of N13bn has been paid, thus going the whole length to ignore our plight without remorse and without recourse to the minister’s directive.

“Before now, we had taken the honourable path to continually seek an explanation from the NMDPRA on why it has blatantly refused to offset the remaining debt, but we have ceaselessly met brick walls,” Alhassan stated.

He said IPMAN was extremely distressed and depressed by the laidback attitude of the leadership of NMDPRA towards the survival of its members’ businesses, arising from NMDPRA’s deliberate delay and refusal to offset the debt of over N200bn.

“This has consequently led to the deaths of many of our members and the unfortunate collapse of their businesses. It is also disheartening to note that some of our members have completely shut down their businesses and retrenched their employees as we are no longer able to pay salaries.

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“As businessmen and women, our members acquired bank loans to keep their fuel retail outlets running on a daily basis across the nooks and crannies of Nigeria, in order to serve the teeming population of Nigerians.

“However, it is demoralising to know that many of our members have gone bankrupt and have become financially insolvent as a result of their inability to meet their financial obligations to their banks, arising wholly from their inability to get their monies from the NMDPRA,” Alhassan stated.

Consequently, according to the IPMAN official, the banks have taken over the business premises of many of our members.

He said, “NMDPRA have illegally taken our monies and this is the highest level of fraud. Sequel to this, we are appealing to Mr President to please intervene in this quagmire that we have been subjected to by the NMDPRA.

“We repeat, if our demands are not met within the shortest period of time, we have already put our members on standby across the nation, as law-abiding citizens, we are collectively prepared to withdraw our services, close every single outlet, and suspend lifting of products forthwith till our demands are fully met.”

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When contacted, the NMDPRA said the payment process was ongoing. “Not everyone is paid at the same time, rather the payment process is an ongoing thing,” a spokesperson for the agency, Seiyefa Osanebi stated.

Meanwhile, commenting on the scarcity of fuel across the country, Alhassan said the problem was because the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited was not supplying enough petrol to dealers.

“It is expedient for us to state that we are more pained by the non-availability of petroleum products across the country, which has given rise to another round of untold hardship for Nigerians.

“We would like to categorically state that the scarcity of PMS is wholly triggered by the NNPC and not by IPMAN or her members. Contrary to claims that IPMAN members are hoarding PMS products, we make bold to say that NNPC is the sole importer of PMS and therefore the sole cause of the present scarcity in Nigeria,” he stated.

IPMAN also stated that NNPC was supplying petrol to private depots, adding that these depots raise the cost of the commodity to as high as N850/litre, which often leads to higher pump prices nationwide.

NNPC, however, assured Nigerians that the ongoing fuel scarcity and queues would be cleared out by Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Its Chief Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye, reportedly stated this on Tuesday in Lagos.

He said the company currently has availability of products exceeding 1.5 billion litres, which can last for at least 30 days and blamed problems of logistics for the scarcity of petrol nationwide.

PUNCH