Soku Oil field; Bayelsa Govt faults Rivers state N17bn claim

Soku Oil field; Bayelsa Govt faults Rivers state N17bn claim…….stresses need for unity between Nembe, Kalabari kingdoms

 As controversy trailing the ownership of disputed Soku Oil wells rages on, Bayelsa State government on Tuesday said there was no iota of truth in Rivers state government’s claim that Revenue Mobilization,  Allocation and Fiscal Commission wrongly paid N17bn from escrow account to Bayelsa state government. 

Also, the government called on the law abiding people of the affected communities,-Nembe and Kalabari kingdoms not to allow the unity of the Ijaw nation to be affected by the antics of the people who want to play politics over the disputed Oil wells. 

Putting the record straight at the inauguration of a14-man State Boundaries Committee, the State Governor, Hon. Seriake Dickson said at no point in time did RMFAC wrongly paid any amount from escrow account to Bayelsa state government. 

His account, ‘it is not true that Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission paid any amount of money to the government of Bayelsa state wrongly from an escrow account. That is wrong, that is not true. No N17bn was ever kept in any escrow account; no such money was ever paid to the Government of Bayelsa state. 

That is deliberate falsehood that has been put out there to create an impression of bias on the part of a hardworking, impartial Federal Agency that is doing their work. The truth, however is this, last year, the government of Bayelsa state in the last administration made some claims against Rivers state on the account of revenue collection due Bayelsa in respect of some disputed wells. 

The government of Rivers state and its officials duly defended this claim and at the end of it there was a reconciliation of figures. At the end of the reconciliation it was found and agreed upon by all parties including officials of the Government of Rivers, that Rivers state government had wrongly collected the sum of N17bn that was due Bayelsa state. 

That was determined and found to be a fact at the reconciliation. Therefore an agreement was reached by all parties including the representatives of the Government of Rivers state for a refund to be made. Government of Rivers state also made a counter claim of wrongful payment of some other wells in its territory to Bayelsa state and other neighbouring states. 

The appropriates Federal Agencies looked at this claims, heard from  all the parties and found that as a fact that Rivers state government was entitled to refund of close of N15-N16bn again as in defence, there was an agreement reached for refund, as a result of which all the states affected were made to refund that money.  Refund was agreed upon to be made to Rivers state.. Either all the states affected have paid or in the process of doing so. The government of Bayelsa state was made to pay about N2bn as refund to Rivers state based on that consensual understanding. 

The government of Bayelsa state consequently after paying our refund to Rivers state got about N15.1bn. in line with our transparent regime in this state, we duly declared this earning to the people of Bayelsa state. As I am talking to you, this sum is safely kept in the account of the government of Bayelsa state and when the flood and rain subside, we shall direct it into putting back our critical infrastructure. Meanwhile the government of Rivers state got its own refund. 

It is mischievous for anybody to allege and create an impression that the sum of N17bn was ever kept in an escrow account and that a federal Agency paid it out to Bayelsa state during the pendency of litigation. That is a lie that has been fed to the public to create the impression that the Federal Agencies are bias. These are the same Agencies that ensure that appropriate refund was paid to the government of Rivers state. No complain at that time. What happened is that because the process of reconciliation is ongoing between states and Federal Agencies, once there is a complain of wrongful payment or wrongful disbursement to any state, the normal practice is for the state to make complain to the Federal Agencies; the National Boundaries Commission, Revenue Mobilization and Allocation and Fiscal Commission, the Federal Ministry of Finance. 

That is the procedure and that is why we are convinced that the issue of derivation are best left for states to handle and not communities but since my counterpart from Rivers state has made it a communal affair, I believe that he will help us to tell the people of Rivers state, particularly, the people of Kalabari kingdom who he claimed to be fighting for that the basis of our recent claim is that the government of Rivers state in the past couple of years has wrongly received about N120bn that shouldn’t have been paid to Rivers state.

 I hope, he will also tell the people of Rivers state, particularly the people of Kalabari about the refund that was consensually agreed upon and effected in favour of Rivers state to the tune of about N15-N16bn which he got about a month ago. We feel that this matter are best left for states and other stakeholders at the Federal level to resolve in accordance with lay down rules.

 Responding, the Chairman of the committee, the Deputy Governor, Rear Admiral Gboribiogha John Jonah said the task given to the committee was not an easy one but expressed belief that with the qualities of members on board, the committee will do its best and will not disappoint the government and the people of the state. 

 Daniel Iworiso-Markson
Chief Press secretary to the Governor of Bayelsa state

OIL WELLS RIVALRY: BAYELSA STATE GOVERNMENT REPLIES RIVERS STATE GOVERNMENT AGAIN

SOKU/OLUASIRI OIL WELLS/ OIL FIELD: RIVERS STATE GOVERNMENT SHOULD STOP HEATING UP THE POLITY.

Ordinarily, having issued a press statement last Tuesday on the Oluasiri Oil Wells/Oil Field which clearly shows that the said oil wells/oil fields (which Rivers State refers to as Soku) belong to Bayelsa State, the Bayelsa State Government would have maintained a dignified silence in the face of provocation on the subject matter. But the Bayelsa State Government is compelled to issue this statement though with restraint, to respond to the press statement of the Rivers State Government published in many national newspapers in the country to save the Ijaws, Federal Government agencies and the entire country from the desperation and lies of the Rivers State Government.

For all intents and purposes, the said press statement of the Rivers State Government on the above issue was obviously intended to create crisis amongst the peace loving Ijaw people in Rivers and Bayelsa States and garner public sympathy for Rivers State.The said statement, which was signed by the Rivers State Commissioner for Information, on the instruction of the Rivers State Governor amongst others, accused the presidency of mischief. This is not only disrespectful and insulting, it also smacks of insubordination and arrogance on the part of the leadership of the Rivers State Government.

While this matter remains in the front burner of public discourse, it is advisable for the Rivers State Government to stop denigrating the President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria because the office of the President is the highest institution in the land. Public Office holders must at all times protect the sanctity of public institutions and not to desecrate same the way the leadership of Rivers State did and is still doing.

The government of Bayelsa State therefore urges the Rivers State Governor and his appointees to refrain from making inciting and inflammatory remarks capable of triggering off inter communal crises among our people. It will be recalled that Bayelsa State Government has restrained the Nembe people from responding to the threats and drums of war by the Kalabari people as this could lead to great disaffection between the two communities.We also urge our fellow Ijaw brothers and traditional rulers to refrain from being used by Governor Ameachi as tools to cause disunity between the people of Rivers and Bayelsa States over the derivation matter because derivation is purely a state matter and not a matter between communities.

The HARD FACTS about Oluasiri/Soku Oil Wells/Oil Field are as follows:

1. The Rivers State Government had previously filed two suits against the Bayelsa State Government at the Federal High Court and the Supreme Court respectively in other to assert its purported ownership over the said oil wells/ oil field and woefully failed as the said suits were all struck­-out by the courts.

2. Soku is a village in Rivers State while the oil wells/ oil field and the flow station are located in the Oluasiri Clan in Nembe Local Government Area of Bayelsa State. The name Soku oil wells/oil field was wrongly given by Shell Petroleum Development Company Ltd (SPDC) since Soku village was their operational base at that time. This is not peculiar to Soku. For example, the Idu oil wells/oil field is named after a town in Ekpeye land in Ahoada East LGA of Rivers state while the oil field is actually located in Biseni land of Bayelsa State. Similarly, the Omoku west oil field is in Biseni land of Bayelsa State but Omoku is a town in Rivers State.

3. The Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) in its report on the Familiarization/Verification visit to oil producing states, volume 1, Main Report, August 2006 in Chapter 3, page 30 also acknowledged the above anomaly when it stated as follows:“The Bayelsa/Imo/Abia State Governments complained that the naming of oil fields was often done arbitrarily without any regard to the culture and particular environment of the people where the wells or fields are located. This has given rise to wrong attribution by relevant agencies”.

4. Incidentally, Soku village in Rivers State is about 10 km, as the crow flies, from the flow station while the Oluasiri / Soku oil wells/ field is surrounded by various Oluasiri villages of Nembe LGA in Bayelsa State.

5. The Special Presidential Committee on verification of oil wells in volume one of its report on disputed oil wells of December 2000 (P; 25/26) after a painstaking field verification process and hearing from both states stated and recommended as follows:''4;5.6 Soku Oil FieldThe team relied on the legal notice captioned “The Eastern Region Local Government Law, 1955 E.R. NO 26 of 1955. Instrument Establishing the Nembe District Council” tendered by Bayelsa State on Pages 40-41 of its submission. It should be noted that while the Kalabaris of Rivers State call the area Soku, the Nembe people of Bayelsa State call it Oluasiri which is one of the councils mentioned in paragraph 5 of the above mentioned instrument.…In the light of the above, it is recommended that the production from Soku Oil Field be attributed to Bayelsa State.''

6. It is worthy of note that the Rivers State Government had in its white paper (1993) titled: RIVERS STATE GOVERNMENT REPORT OF THE JUDICIAL COMMISSION OF ENQUIRY INTO THE DISTURBANCES / CONFLICT BETWEEN AKUKU-TORU AND BRASS LGA OF RIVERS STATE UNDER THE CHAIRMANSHIP OF HON JUSTICE PETER B. AKERE rejected the use of River Santa Babara as the boundary between the Kalabari people of Rivers State and the Nembe people of Bayelsa State. The Rivers State Government in the said white paper specifically stated as follows:''The commission recommends that;

(i) Until that stage is reached, a temporary map which reflects the Rivers Santa Barbara as an administrative boundary should replace Exhibit SG 1.''Government:(a)Rejects the recommendation of the commission in B

(2) (i) above...”The Rivers State Government can therefore no longer claim River Santa Babara as the boundary between the Nembe people of Bayelsa State and the Kalabari people of Rivers State and hence the boundary between the two States.

7. Following dispute between the Nembe and Kalabari peoples, J.G. Cousins Acting District Officer of Brass Division acknowledged River San Bartholomew as the boundary between the Nembe and Kalabari people when in His report dated November 1952 titled KALABARI/NEMBE FISHING DISPUTE stated in paragraph 4 as follows:“…I note that Consul Hopkins fixed the boundary between Nembe and new Calabar (Kalabari).
This is mentioned in the report of the commission into the Kula-Nembe boundary dispute presided over by Mr B.G. Smith acting District Officer in 1944, to which I am also referred by the Nembe Chiefs.”The New Calabar people in the above quotation refers to the present Kalabari people of Rivers State.

8. The 11tth edition of the administrative map of Nigeria, further confirms the fact that River San Bartholomew is the boundary between Nembe of Bayelsa State and new Calabar (Kalabari) of Rivers State which has metamorphosed into the boundary between the two States.

9. For now there is no pending litigation over the Oluasiri oil wells/oil field between Rivers and Bayelsa States since the Supreme Court struck out the suit by the Rivers State Government challenging Bayelsa State's ownership of Oluasiri oil wells/oilfield. The matter was heard under suit number SC/106/2009: Attorney General of Rivers State vs Attorney General of Bayelsa State and Anor.

10. Between, 1996 to 2006, the Rivers State Government wrongly collected several billions of naira from the federation account accruing from the Oluasiri oil wells/oil fields, which was wrongfully allocated, to it by the Federal Government.It is pertinent to note that the 11th Edition of the Administrative Map of Nigeria has not been set aside by the National Boundary Commission or any Court of law. Furthermore since the creation of Bayelsa State it is the 11th edition of the administration map of Nigeria that defines the boundary between the two states.

Therefore The Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) was perfectly right in attributing and paying the revenue accruing from the said oil wells/ oil field to Bayelsa State.We therefore urge all Nigerians to discountenance the frivolous and baseless allegations contained in the press release by the Rivers State Government as they are calculated to mislead the entire Country and instigate crises amongst the Ijaw brothers in Kalabari and Nembe communities.

In spite of this provocation, the Bayelsa State Government will remain focused and determined to ensure a peaceful resolution of the issue.

Thank You.
God bless Bayelsa State
God bless the Ijaw Nation
God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeira

SIGNED:
Deacon Markson Fefegha
Hon. Commissioner of Information and Orientation
Bayelsa State Nigeria

Bayelsa Monarch urges FG to urgently demarcate disputed land

Bayelsa Monarch urges FG to urgently demarcate disputed land

The paramount ruler of Oluasiri in Nembe LGA of Bayelsa, HRH, King Iyeritei Awululu has urged the federal government to embark on immediate boundary demarcation in the disputed oil rich Soku enclave between Bayelsa and Rivers. Awululu in an interview in Yenagoa on Wednesday said the call became imperative in order to avert possible bloodshed between the two sister states. He described as misplaced claims by the Kalabari National Forum that Bayelsa Government was planning to annex five oil rich communities in Kalabari Kingdom in Rivers State. 

King Awululu said the Soku Gas Plant which is in contention is on Oluasiri territory in Nembe council area and not on Kalabiri land as being claimed by the Rivers people. According to him, “Oluasiri is the 13th ward in Nembe council area and have boundary with Odua, Abua and Akuku-Toru. The Soku Gas Plant is at the centre of Oluasiri land.

The place is far from Soku and it is a minimum of 22 minutes drive on the fastest speed boat.”   He said the instrument that created the Nembe district council in the then Eastern region was in 1955/56 while the instrument creating Kalabari district was in 1960/61. “If you look at the instrument creating the Kalabari district council in the then Eastern Region, you will not see Elemsangama in it but you will see Orusangama,” he remarked.

 Awululu noted that the people of Bille have also cautioned the Kalabaris on this matter, adding that Mr. President should not be dragged into the matter which had been on ground long before he even delved into politics. Also in a statement on Wednesday, the Bayelsa government said it has sufficiently made its stand known on the matter and is duly backed up by law. Governor Seriake Dickson through his Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Iworiso-Markson said the law as it is known deals with facts and concrete evidence. 

On the issue of ownership and the claim by the Rivers State government to Soku Oil wells, he said, “I believe it is no longer news that Rivers State Government took Bayelsa State Government to the Federal High Court on this same issue and lost. “Instead of appealing the matter in the Appeal Court, the Rivers State Government invoked the constitutional provision and filed a suit in the Supreme Court in 2011 and this year the Supreme Court upheld Bayelsa State’s position.“I do not think we should dissipate unnecessary energy over what has already been established as incontrovertible fact. “Besides, we live in a country governed by laws and there are recognised institutions where people can go to seek redress, when they are in doubt. “We should not belabour the issue any further.

As far as this issue is concerned, I believe the facts speak for itself.” recalled that the Kalabari National Forum had Monday in Abuja  protested alleged surreptitious moves by some federal government officials to excise five oil producing Kalabari communities of Rivers and give them to Bayelsa for political reasons.

STOP THE CHEAP BLACKMAIL AND FACE THE FACTS

                                                  
 The attention of the Bayelsa State Government has been drawn to media reports credited to chiefs and elders of some ijaw clans of Kalabari extraction in Rivers State, alleging attempts by some persons to forcefully annex communities and ancestral lands as well as oil facilities and installations in Kalabari land to Bayelsa State for the purpose of claiming derivation entitlements.

The government of Bayelsa State wishes to react as follows:

1.    Firstly, we assure our Ijaw kith and kin in the Kalabari clan of Rivers State that there is no such move to forcefully annex any territory or people into Bayelsa State. We further wish to state that the Ijaw strategic interest demands that Ijaws wherever they are should be supported and strengthened and not to be forced into Bayelsa State. 

2.    That the purported claim is an attempt by detractors of the Ijaw nation to create unnecessary strife and hostility within the Ijaw ethnic family to our collective disadvantage.  

3.    The true state of affairs is as follows: ·      

 That by the 11th edition of the administrative map of Nigeria published in 2000, Bayelsa State as a state was entitled to derivation and other claims from crude oil production in respect of oil exploration carried out within its territory as stated in the said map. 
     
        It is important to note that the claim of a state to derivation on account of oil production within its territory is different from ownership of land by families, communities and even clans. Whereas the claim of a state is based on territorial boundaries contained in the administrative map, that of a clan, family and community is based on traditional history, possession and other forms of ownership. Therefore, it is very common in the Niger Delta, owing to the way and manner states were created, for communities or clans to be in one state while part of the ancestral land is in another. The family, clan or community does not cease to be traditional owners of such lands, while the state in which the land forms a part exercise administrative control over such land and therefore, entitled to derivation. 

       By the said 11th edition of the administrative map of the Federal Republic of Nigeria dated 2000, Bayelsa State is entitled to derivation in respect of all the oil wells within the state territory. ·    

   The government of Rivers State has been receiving derivation revenue over several oil facilities and installations which are clearly within Bayelsa territory from 1999 till date in spite of the clear boundary delineation in the said map. ·      

 We acknowledge the long standing dispute between the Ijaws in Bayelsa in Nembe clan and the Ijaws in Kalabari clan in Rivers State over traditional land boundaries. The claims predate the creation of Bayelsa State. However, the present issue is not about Nembe people laying claim to Kalabari land or of people trying to annex Kalabari land and communities as part of Bayelsa State. 

Rather, the present claim is about the right of Bayelsa State like any other state, to derivation revenue in respect of activities within its territory as stated in the administrative map of Nigeria. Even if any land in question in Bayelsa State is found to be the ancestral land of any family, community or clan in Kalabari clan, it does not detract from the right of the state to receive derivation. In the same vein, it does not also detract from the ownership or title to such land by the family, clan or community which must be acknowledged and treated as such. Derivation revenue is not paid to families, clans or communities but to state governments, exercising administrative control over the territory where production takes place. ·  

     The government of Bayelsa State has through its consultants verified and computed all such derivation monies wrongly paid to or received by Rivers State over the years. ·      

 We condemn the deliberate and mischievous attempt to link the President to what is clearly an exercise of Bayelsa State Government’s right. The government of Rivers State itself has made several such claims of wrongful payments of derivation monies and has severally received refund in deserving cases.

The questions to be answered by Rivers State government are as follows:   

a). Is the Rivers State government saying that because the President is from Bayelsa State, it therefore means that the state should sleep over its rights and entitlements?  

b). or was Dr. Goodluck Jonathan Vice President and President of Nigeria in 1992 and 2000 when these maps were produced?

  c). What about the refunds received by the Rivers State government from other states that such funds were wrongly paid to? Should we then associate the refunds with the Presidency? 

We take serious exception to the antics of the Rivers State government in its attempt to always blackmail the President in a bid to gain unnecessary advantage.The facts remain that all the relevant maps - the administrative map of Nigeria 10th edition produced in 1992 and the 11th edition produced in 2000 were clearly produced long before Dr. Goodluck Jonathan became the Vice President and later President. 

It is therefore pertinent to state that no amount of blackmail or propaganda will deter the government of Bayelsa State from pursuing its legitimate rights and entitlements under the law. 

We wish to urge our good brothers in Rivers State not to allow themselves to be used for cheap blackmail or any form of propaganda against the President and Bayelsa State. 

Let it be clearly stated that the government of Bayelsa State is not interested in annexing Kalabari clan, as it is being alleged, for the purpose of claming derivation entitlements or any other purpose whatsoever.

 We therefore request the government of Rivers State to tender an unreserved apology to Mr. President and the government of Bayelsa State over its unguarded, mischievous and misleading statements, which clearly are calculated to disparage the Presidency and incite violence between the two states.

Signed 
Daniel Iworiso-Markson
Chief Press Secretary to Bayelsa State Governor