HOST COMMUNITIES HAVE FAULTED PLANE TO PRIVATIZE NNPC.

The Rivers State Government and Communities in the Niger Delta region have criticized the proposal by the Federal Government to unbundle the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation and privatise a part of it as well as oil assets without the approval of other tiers of government.

The State and the Communities, in their separate written presentations to the House of Representatives on the Petroleum Industry Bill, stated that the proposal to eventually sell of a National Petroleum Company to be created from the NNPC requires a collective approval of all stakeholders.

According to them, the NNPC and Petroleum assets belong to the Federation and not the Federal Government alone.

The Host Communities of Nigeria Producing Oil and Gas, in its presentation to the House Committee on PIB at its public hearing, particularly, faulted the proposed plan to empower the Petroleum Minister to solely determine the fate of national assets in the oil and gas sector.

The position was stated in the document signed by the National President, HOSTCOM, Chief Benjamin Tamaranebi, on behalf of Host Communities of Nigeria.

The Host Communities also warned against privatization in the Petroleum sector, saying it posed a major economic threat to Nigeria.