COMMUNIQUÉ OF THE CIVIL SOCIETY CONSULTATIVE MEETING ON OIL AND GAS SECTOR POLICY REVIEW INTRODUCTION From Tuesday

COMMUNIQUÉ OF THE CIVIL SOCIETY CONSULTATIVE MEETING ON OIL AND GAS SECTOR POLICY REVIEW

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INTRODUCTION

From Tuesday, April 6 to Wednesday, April 7, 2004, representatives of civil society organisations, oil-bearing communities, academia and the media met in Lagos for a two-day consultative meeting on oil and gas sector policy
review. The meeting was organised by the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth, Nigeria

OBSERVATIONS

Participants observed as follows:

1)   That the government on April 25, 2000 inaugurated the Oil and Gas Sector Reform Implementation Committee (OGIC) with the Vice President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as Chairman. The duties of the Committee include 'legal and
regulatory policy reform which entails reviewing the body of extant petroleum laws and establishing a statutory basis for comprehensive regulatory activity in the sector and balancing the interest of consumers, the environment and operators'. The OGIC is reportedly composed of 25 experts and has a British firm, Nextant Limited, as consultants while the peoples of the oil-bearing communities whose lives and livelihoods are at stake and concerned civil society organisations are not represented on the Committee. Nor have they been consulted so far in the process;

2)   As yet, information about the work of the reform committee is scanty and the process non-inclusive and non-transparent;

3)   That the oil and gas sector policy review is private sector driven and based on the philosophy of neo-liberalism which places profits before people;

4)   That the plethora of environmental laws in Nigeria are yet to be codified in a single document and remain inhumane, undemocratic and non-justiceable;

5)   That Nigeria does not have a record of its crude oil deposits, sales and revenue;

6)   That there is a lack of political will on the part of government to put a decisive stop to the indiscriminate flaring of gas in the Niger Delta;

7)   That since the return of civilian rule in 1999, the government has deliberately refused to appoint a substantive minister in charge of Petroleum Resources;

8)   That contrary to popular belief that the controversy surrounding the onshore-offshore dichotomy in derivation revenue has been resolved, the littoral states are still being denied their entitlement to the continental shelf contiguous to them but are allowed a varying offshore that reaches a maximum of 200 metres depth in this day and age when most new offshore finds are in deep waters whose control has been vested exclusively on the central
government;

RESOLUTIONS

Based on the foregoing observations, the meeting resolved as follows:

1)   That the ongoing oil and gas sector policy reform process remains unacceptable until it meets the criteria of transparency, inclusiveness and popular participation;

2)   That there is need for a clear legislation on community participation in the Nigerian oil and gas sector;

3)   That we demand a moratorium on new oil field explorations and exploitations;

4)   That there is need for research into alternative sources of renewable energy in Nigeria;

5)   That we endorse the democratic resolutions of the people as contained in the Ogoni Bill of Rights, the Kaiama Declaration of the Ijaw, the Aklaka Declaration of the Egi, and others affirming the right of communities to control their resources;

6)   That all unjust oil and gas laws like the Land Use Decree, the Petroleum Act and others be abrogated;

7)   That a post-oil environmental security fund is desirable to ensure the remediation of the damaged Niger Delta ecosystem;

8)   That the controversy surrounding the offshore-onshore dichotomy be democratically resolved in favour of the oil-bearing communities;

9)   That the government should put an immediate end to gas flaring, ascertain the damage done to the environment and carry out appropriate remediation;

10)   That a substantive Petroleum Resources Minister be appointed without further delay;

11)    That the capacity of the state to regulate business be strengthened

NNIMMO BASSEY

Executive Director

Environmental Rights Action

April 2004