Niger Delta agitation: Osinbajo, Sylva, Otuaro meet in Aso Rock
By Johnbosco Agbakwuru
ABUJA—VICE President Yemi Osinbajo, Wednesday met with the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, and the Delta State deputy governor, Barr. Kingsley Otuaro, over Niger Delta issues in his office at the State House.
Recall that various ethnic nationalities in the region, especially from Delta State, have recently threatened to shut oil and gas activities in their domains down over alleged cases of marginalisation and neglect.
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The most recent of which is the controversial process of ceding 57 marginal oil fields to private investors.
Most of the nationalities that had raised dusts, like the Urhobo, Ijaw and Itsekiri, claimed that the ongoing process was unfair as it had excluded people of their stocks from the process and had demanded for a reordering of the process and inclusion of their national interests.
Speaking to State House correspondents after after the meeting, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, said the meeting was organised to discus the issues raised by the people with the Vice President.
The Minister said that the agitations were routine matters, which would be addressed to avoid escalation.
According to him, “It is normal for me to consult with the vice president from time to time; we had some notice of agitation from the Niger Delta.
“The vice president, of course, preempted everything by inviting the deputy governor of Delta State so that we can understand exactly what the issues are.
“These are routine issues; these are host community issues and when they come up, we have to deal with them early before they fester and become bigger problems.
“That is why the vice president invited the deputy governor of Delta State to look at the issues so that we can discuss and resolve them quickly before they become bigger issues,.”
Also speaking, the Delta State deputy governor, Barr. Otuaro, said that the meeting was part of the process of normal consultations with host communities in the oil producing environment.
He said there is need to set up consultative plans so that the stakeholders will engage themselves with a view to achieving peace.
“There are issues and we have agreed that immediately after Sallah, we will have a platform to sorting out some of these issues,’’ he said
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