The Bayelsa government has solicited an equity stake in the Brass Fertiliser and Petrochemical Company project, which is about to begin on Brass Island.

Governor Douye Diri made the request on Tuesday during a courtesy visit by the company’s management team in Yenagoa.

The Bayelsa governor stated that the state’s position became necessary due to the negative consequences of excluding oil-producing states and local governments from the Petroleum Industry Act.

He said that the implementation of the PIA had been hampered in host communities due to an anomaly in the legislation.

Mr Diri noted that the disregard in the PIA of the Nigerian Constitution, which vests control of land in the state government, was a flaw that has necessitated calls for its review.

“Let us ensure that the state is not totally excluded from being a partner in progress in this whole process. The PIA is one good example. When it was in its formative stages as a bill, we made a presentation through the attorney general and the commissioner for justice.

“We did that after consulting with our people, communities, and chiefs. But at the end of the day, our inputs were ignored and thrown overboard as the PIA excluded the oil-producing states and their local governments.

“The federal government now interacts directly with the communities, and that is an affront on the Nigerian Constitution. The 1999 Constitution says the land belongs to the state government and not the federal government,” said the Bayelsa governor.

Mr Diri explained that the Constitution “recognises communities as under the local government and the state government”, noting that these “anomalies in the PIA have made the law a time bomb”.

“Today,” he added, “because of the PIA, there are intra and inter-communal conflicts and litigations. So even funds that have been realised for their development cannot be disbursed to the communities. If anybody thinks the state is not much important, we will then wash off our hands.”

The governor expressed the hope that the petrochemical company would be different and urged the management to partner with the state government to correct the imbalance and avert conflicts in its host communities.

Mr Diri, who commended the President Bola Tinubu administration for resuscitating the project, said it was long overdue. He said that the Brass Fertiliser and Petrochemical Company was conceptualised in 2009 but gained some traction during the administration of his predecessor before it fizzled out again.

The managing director of the Brass Fertiliser and Petrochemical Company, Ben Okoye, stated that the visit was to formally inform the state government that work on the $3.5 billion project would commence in October this year.

Mr Okoye explained that the 10,000 metric tonnes of methanol per day project was delayed as there was no agreement reached on the gas component, but that  President Tinubu, in October, directed the gas minister to get it started, and that the agreement was signed in January this year.

He assured the state government that the necessary steps had been taken to implement the project in full and thanked the governor for constructing the Nembe-Brass road.
Which he noted would save the company up to $100,000 in logistics costs associated with moving equipment and materials from the river to the project site.

(NAN)