By Ojugbele Omotunde
The Joint Committee of the House of Representatives (Green Chamber) has summoned the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mele Kyari, as well as 35 oil companies for questioning about how the operations of oil firms in Nigeria’s oil-producing communities are causing environmental damage.
The Joint Committee of the House of Representatives includes the Committees on Environment, Petroleum Resources (Upstream), Petroleum Resources (Downstream) and Climate Change.
Pondi Gbabojor, the chairman of the House Committee on Environment delivered the summons at an investigation hearing on the operations of oil corporations in Abuja on Wednesday.
The oil firms and the NNPCL boss are to appear before the committee on Wednesday, May 8, 2024.
The committee also summoned the leaders of the oil firms and pertinent government institutions like the Nigeria Midstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, National Oil Spill Detection Response Agency, National Environmental Standards Regulations and Enforcement Agency, Chevron Nigeria Limited, Total Energies, Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, Seplat Energy, Oando Oil Limited and Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited.
The Speaker, Abbas Tajudeen represented by the Deputy Minority Whip, George Ozodinobi, emphasised the need to strike a balance between economic prosperity and social responsibility for equitable development, while acknowledging the duty of public servants to safeguard the environment and remedy environmental degradation.
He stated that it is important to ensure that the voices of those most affected by environmental damage are heard and respected, including frontline communities, indigenous people, and marginalized groups.
The committee chairman, Gbabojor threatened sanctions if invited individuals failed to appear stating that they would send another letter to everyone, asking them to answer questions about environmental degradation caused by oil companies.
He said that the committee would deliberate on their next move if no one showed up.
He continued by saying that only four of the 35 invited firms showed up for the start of the investigation into oil corporations and agencies on Wednesday and that the companies needed the required paperwork.