Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — The Senate Committee on Host Communities has charged the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC, to impose sanctions on oil companies that have failed to establish Host Community Development Trusts, HCDTs, as required under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021.
Speaking at the commissioning of projects executed by the Obagi Oilfield Host Communities Development Trust, HCDT, in OML58, Rivers State, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Host Communities, Senator Benson Agadaga, said such firms were undermining the peace-building objectives of the PIA.
“It is against the spirit of the PIA if you don’t set up an HCDT,” Agadaga said.
“NUPRC, in your regulatory functions, take stringent measures against oil companies who have not set up their HCDTs. There is a pronouncement that where you fail to do it after ten months, you have sanctions, so oil companies who’ve not done it should be sanctioned.”
He noted that the peace currently being enjoyed in the oil and gas sector in the Niger Delta is directly linked to the implementation of the PIA.
“The little peace that we’re seeing in the oil and gas industry in the Niger Delta is because of the PIA. The PIA has reduced hostility in the oil industry. Host communities are no longer as hostile as before because all of us are expecting that this will give us the required dividends and now we’re seeing them,” he said.
Agadaga urged other HCDTs that are yet to commence tangible projects to take a cue from Obagi HCDT, which has delivered multiple infrastructure projects across Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area.
“I call on other HCDTs that are yet to do projects to do so now. This is the only hope for stability in the oil-producing areas. We no longer want interruptions in the oil-producing areas; we need maximum oil production because we need to meet up the target of at least two million barrels per day, and we can only achieve that with peace through HCDTs,” he added.
Also speaking, Hon. Cyril Hart, who represented the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Host Communities, Dum Dekor, said the Obagi projects were a demonstration of Section 234 of the PIA in action. “Today the settlors can beat their chest to say they have fulfilled the objectives of that section, which entails prosperity for the community, socio-economic benefits from oil and gas revenue, and ultimately to win peace,” Hart said.
On its part, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC, described the projects as evidence of the PIA’s effectiveness. Executive Commissioner, HSE and Community, Capt. John Tonlagha, said: “This event is far more than a ceremony. It’s a tangible demonstration of what is possible when regulatory efficiency, community cooperation, and government commitment converge to deliver progress and peace.”
The Deputy Governor of Rivers State, Dr. Ngozi Odu, thanked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for driving the PIA’s implementation, noting that the commissioning of over 10 projects in Egi land was unprecedented.
Managing Director of TotalEnergies EP Nigeria Limited, Matthieu Bouyer, said the Obagi HCDT was among the first created and funded after the passage of the PIA.
“Two years after, there is real value from those funds. There are schools, a hospital, and other projects we’re commissioning today, and that’s a big source of pride. These nine projects will impact 30,000 people,” he said.
The commissioned projects include a two-storey 18-classroom block in Ogbogu, the remodelled 20-bed Ogbogu Cottage Hospital, an ultra-modern civic centre, asphalt and reinforced concrete roads, water and gas facilities, a bottling water factory, and upgraded primary schools.
All the projects were executed by the Obagi Oilfields HCDT in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State.
