…as South-South governors, ministers, lawmakers meet over oil & gas control
Governors from the South-South states are meeting in Port Harcourt tomorrow to take a common position on why Zamfara state can take ownership of its gold reserve and their states cannot not lay similar claim to crude oil.
Governor of Delta state, Ifeanyi Okowa hinted about the meeting on Wednesday.
He said ministers and lawmakers from the region are attending.
Okowa said no law of the country permits Zamfara State Government to control and manage gold deposits in the state
He said the governors of South-South region will soon take up the matter with the Federal Government.
Okowa, who spoke at his 2020 quarterly media interaction in Asaba, the state capital, maintained that what Zamfara state government was doing was clearly an illegality.
He warning that if the matter was not properly addressed, South -South governors would have no option than to assume control of oil and gas in their states.
The governor, a former senator said South-South governors believe in restructuring and resource control.
He also applauded the efforts of the South-South Governors who he said though could do better, were already doing very well amidst the challenges they face in the development of their respective states.
According to him, “South-South governors before now have been talking about the need for restructuring and need for resource control, obviously we are on that because we feel there is the need to restructure not only the country, but the management of resources.
“We cannot apply laws in our nation to the point that it becomes discriminatory because if people are allowed to process for their solid minerals, they should also be allowed to do same for their oil.
“So we are going to be very hard and try to make our voice as strong as possible during the meeting”, he said. – The News.
Gold and other mineral resources are being illegally mined and traded by foreigners almost wherever they is found in the six geopolitical regions of Nigeria. The federal government need to do something drastic and urgent to be fair to the Niger Delta people as well as improve national economy and security.