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| Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu Immediate past Petroleum Minister for State |
SPDC gave a graphic picture of the divested OML29 in these words:
"OML 29 is also know as Oil Mining Licence 29 Oil Mining Licence OML is one of the two types of licences issued to oil producers in Nigeria with validity period ranging from 5 to 20 years respectively. OML 29 is a large block located in the Southeastern Niger Delta contain 11 Oil and Gas fields.
OML29 stretches over an area of 983 square kilometres. It includes the Nembe Oil Fields, Santababara Oil Fields and Okoroba Oil Fields. It also include the Nembe Creek Trunk Line NCTL. A 100 kilometres long pipeline with a capacity of 600 thousand barrels per day."
Shell sold the OML 29 to Aiteo at $1.7billion, March 25, 2015 still without the involvement or knowledge of the host
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| Chief Timipre Sylva Minister of State for Petroleum |
Shortly after the sales, Aiteo without even visiting and knowing the host Communities went behind in connivance with former Oil Minister, Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu to renew the lease licence on the OML29, completely and deliberately denying all the rights of the host Communities of Opu Nembe Bassambiri, consequent upon which a legal action was taken against the defendants.
Before going for the legal option, the Kingdom first of all forwarded a petition jointly signed by the Opu Nembe Chiefs Council and the Opu Nembe Improvement Union called on the immediate passed Oil Minister, Kachikwu neither to approve of any divestment or licencing of the OML 29 to AITEO without the host Communities being present and the issues raised addressed.
Suit NO: FHC/YNG/CS/62/2015 by the Plaintiff on behalf of the host Communities
*Ikaonaworio Eferebo-Igoma
*Iyerite Chiefson Awululu-Atubu
*Ayebaesin Edoghotu-Omoh
*Amaegbe-Orutari
*B.C.Benwari-Yousuo and
*Doibo Evans
at the Federal High Court Onopo, Bayelsa State capital Yenagoa.
"The agrieved Opu Nembe Bassambiri Community filed the suit and urged the Court for an order setting aside the application, and processes initiated by Aiteo Exploration and Production Limited, identified as the fifth defendant, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.
"In the writ of summon made available to newsman in Yenagoa the agrieved Communities through their counsel explained the grounds for the application. filed on the 4th of August 2015, addressed to the oil Minister (2nd defendant) not to approve renewal of Oil Mining Lease 29 in favour of Aiteo until the following issues were addressed.
" The fifth defendant between 22nd January 2018 and 2nd January 2019, applied for and made payments through the Department of Petroleum Resources for the renewal or processing of application for renewal of Oil Mining Lease 29 (OML)29
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| Benedict Peters CEO Aiteo Limited |
Calling the attention of the Court to the impunity of Aiteo and her co-defendants, the lead Counsel to the plaintiff, Iniruo Wills revealed that:
" On or about 1st of March 2019, further conducting the plaintiff's prayers for an assessment, a massive explosion and a resulting fire occurred in one of the wells in OML 29 block exposing host Communities and other environment and traditional livelihood to great danger. This incident is yet to be properly investigated and the 5th defendant had so far failed to adequately involve regulators and host Communities in addressing it."
At the preminary hearing, the Opu Nembe Bassambiri host Communities told the Federal High Court sitting at Yenagoa and presided over by Justice Awogboro Abimbola that they were in Court to call the defendants: Aiteo, NNPC, the Directorate of Petroleum Products (DPP) to order on a case of illegal renewal of Oil Mining Lease (OML) 29 involving $82m, but Justice Abimbola did not stop the renewal process, not minding the fact that: "The lease will expire June 30 while the operators of the oil fields had commenced renewal formalities with the payment of $82 million to the Department of Petroleum
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| Iniruo Wills and his team of Lawyers briefing... |
Report on a deal struck between the two parties on out of Court settlement granted by the Judge was graphically posited by lead Counsel Iniruo Wills as follows:
"... there is no progress on the settlement. We have received no feedback from the defendants, we only have disturbing and dangerous signals while the settlement is not progressing. The 2nd and fifth defendants proceeded to release the lease the subject matter of the suit.
$82 million has been paid for the renewal of the lease, but we have filed a motion to set aside any step taken towards the renewal of the lease."
Iniruo Wills and his team of Lawyers contended that to forestall illegal renewal the Opu Nembe Council of Chiefs forwarded a petition to the Minister of State for Petroleum co-signed by Dickson Omukoro reads:
"The move by Aiteo and your Ministry is an affront of the jurisdiction of the Court and in violation of the proposed settlement particularly when at the last sitting of the Court the presiding Judge adjourned the matter on the application of the Lawyer to Aiteo to enable parties fully settle option"
He went further, saying:
"Without prejudice to the ongoing settlement, it is our view that renewing the lease while the suit is pending amounts to total disregard to the peaceful means the Kingdom had opted to use in resolving this dispute.
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| A cross section of Chiefs and Opinion Leaders of Opu Nembe Bassambiri at briefing |
While briefing his clients, the Opu Nembe Bassambiri Council of Chiefs, Iniruo Wills flanked by his colleagues gave blow by blow accounts of the proceedings, but regretted that the oil company,
Otonye Evans Tubonah
Publisher/ Editor-in-Chief
Of Golden Pen Newspapers
Based in Yenagoa
Aiteo Limited did not approach the settlement resolutions and talks in sincerity as expected, a situation he described as a delay tactics to waste time while their operations go on. Case comes up 27th September, 2019.
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