President of Movement for Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), Mr. Legborsi Pyagbara has reiterated that no oil company had been given license to operate in Ogoni land.
Speaking when he appeared as a guest on a radio programme monitored in Port Harcourt, the MOSOP president said that it was not true that Robomichael oil company was given the license.
He stated further that the Coordinator of Kensarowiwa Associates, Chief Gani Topba has been making false statements that a license had been given to Robomichael by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
“Gani came to me and showed me something on his phone. What he showed me was an exchange between NNPC and NAPIMS and I said, Gani this cannot be taken to be a license. The letter was something written by the NNPC. I have already seen that letter. It was written by NNPC to NAPIMS and NAPIMS minuted something on the letter to SHELL and SHELL has said we cannot address this whole question. This was a communication between these two entities. SHELL that is asked to comment on that letter has not commented and up till date, SHELL has also not commented. I have checked through the records, nobody has been given any license. People are in the process of trying to acquire Ogoni license”, he said.
Mr. Pyagbara also denied that MOSOP under his leadership had compromised with Robomichael to drill oil in Ogoni.
“I don’t have any relationship with Robomichael. I was the first person that challenged Robomichael on October 19 in our communiqué. We are the first group to challenge Robomichael when they came into town; when we heard about them. And I have been saying it since then till today that MOSOP has not endorsed any company”.
The MOSOP president disclosed that many companies bidding for license had been using a lot of groups to make their case.
“All the groups you see today are funded by one oil company or the other. All the groups now are collecting money from different oil companies. All the groups are masquerading for one company or the other. Oil companies are spreading petrodollars in the area and all mushroom groups have crept in. At the right time, we will expose them. Let them tell me the one MOSOP is collecting from. We are warning oil companies to stay out of Ogoni”.
He said Chief Topba was trying to discredit MOSOP by claiming that his group stopped Belema oil from resuming oil exploration when the true situation was that MOSOP stopped Belema oil from resuming oil production because MOSOP had not taken such resolution.
“Gani did not stop Belema oil in 2015. It was the congress I convened on the 7th of February, 2015”.
The MOSOP president also said that MOSOP was committed to the ideals of Ogoni struggle and that he and his executives had not compromised to SHELL and that he had initiated an online campaign against Shell and those involved in oil exploration.
“I don’t have any relationship with SPDC. I don’t engage with SPDC. I don’t do any business with them. We have already initiated on line campaign against SHELL and those involved in oil exploration. By March, we are going to the Human Rights Commission in Geneva”.
On his own part, Chief Gani Topba said that he was sure of his facts and that the statement credited to the MOSOP leader was not true.
“The statement by the MOSOP president that no license has been given to anybody shows me the insincerity people are talking about. Now, there is a preliminary approval given to Robomichael as operators of OML 11. NNPC has written to SHELL to write the final agreement. I don’t know the process he is talking about and myself I have submitted all the documents to the MOSOP president. If he says he has written letter, let him publish them or bring any response from the federal government on the OML 11. We have a letter from the Acting President when he was acting president. As of last week, the NNPC called on the management of Robomichael for a meeting to ask them questions”.
Chief Topba said that the present attitude MOSOP was displaying had been displayed in 2015 when MOSOP approved Belema oil to resume drilling in Ogoni land.
“You remember in 2014/2015 when the Kensarowiwa Associates took the same position against Belema oil. What was the position of the current leadership of MOSOP on the Belema issue. The current leadership of MOSOP signed a document that was also made public to Belema”.
He admitted that many groups in Ogoni land including MOSOP had companies they are advocating for which he said was against the ideal of Ogoni struggle.
“KAGOTE also took the same position. The Supreme Council of Ogoni Traditional Rulers also took the same position. The only group that has not at any time endorsed any company to take one drop of oil in Ogoni is Kensarowiwa Associates. MOSOP is conniving with SHELL to return to Ogoni”.
