January 21, (THEWILL) – On Tuesday, Rivers State Governor, Simimalayi Fubara, led a delegation of Ogoni leaders to a meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the presidential villa, Abuja.
THEWILL reports that Fubara, accompanied by Senators Lee Maeba, Magnus Abe, Olaka Nwogu, Birabi Barry Mpigi and Joe Poroma, Chief Victor Giadom, Chief Kenneth Kobani, Monsignor Pius Kii and Leedom Mitee, arrived at the villa on Tuesday afternoon.
FCT Minister Nyesom Wike also attended the meeting.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited, Mele Kyari, the Minister of Environment, Balarabe Abba, Minister of Information and National Orientation, Idris Mohammed, Minister of Regional Development, Abubakar Momoh and the National Security Adviser, NSA, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, also attended the meeting.
While THEWILL cannot immediately confirm the agenda of the meeting, it may not be unconnected to the Ogoni clean-up and the planned resumption of oil exploration in Ogoniland.
A coalition of civil society organisations had demanded an allocation of $1 trillion from the Federal Government for the cleanup of the Niger Delta and compensation for the loss of livelihoods, before the resumption of crude oil production in Ogoniland.
The demands were tabled in a statement signed by the organisations, including Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria, Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), and Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF).
Highlighting the historical environmental degradation caused by oil activities in Ogoniland, documented in the 2011 UNEP report, which revealed widespread pollution of land, water, and air, the Group expressed concerns over plans by the Government to resume oil production in the Ogoni community.
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