FG engages N/Delta leaders over ultimatum

The Federal Government said it will commence engagements with critical stakeholders in the Niger Delta region to address some promises it made to people in the region.

Speaking in a video podcast yesterday, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Dr Ibe Kachikwu said government was going to deepen talks with leaders of the region.

It is not certain if the talks were in response to an ultimatum issued by the Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) the umbrella body of monarchs, leaders and stakeholders of states of the Niger Delta.

The group had in August given the Federal Government till November 1, 2017 to put in place mechanisms to address the 16-point demand the group made on behalf of people of the region to President Muhammadu Buhari a year ago.

Top on the list of demands presented to the president at the November 2016 meeting were the relocation of the administrative and operational headquarters of major International Oil Companies (IOCs) to the region and a review of the amnesty programme’s core mandate.

According to PANDEF, failure on the part of the government to discuss with the people of Niger Delta before November 1, it will pull out of all peace negotiations, henceforth with the government.

Kachikwu in the nine-minute video titled Nigeria’s Oil Sector Look Ahead: 2018-2019 and made available to newsmen by the ministry, said: “Next week am going to begin an engagement working with the governors, the stakeholders, oil companies to put seed to some of the promises that we made and see how we can develop memorandum of understanding (MOUs) that all of us can work with.”