Ogoni clean up: Oil firms pay 42.1bn into Escrow account

International Oil Companies (IoCs) have so far contributed about $117 million (About 42.1bn) of the expected $200m into the London escrow account of the Standard Chartered Bank for the $1 billion Ogoni clean up.

The Programme Manager, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Kolawole Banwo who spoke in Lagos yesterday said, it was separate from the $10m released by Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) to Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project (HYPREP) for initial administrative expenses.

Speaking on the United Nation Environmental Report (UNEPR) on Ogoniland released in August 2011, Banwo said the multinational oil companies in Nigeria have contributed to the fund. They are expected to contribute 20 per cent of the $1bn cleanup fund. The Clean -up exercise will take 25-30 years to accomplish, the report noted.

“Sequel to groundbreaking ceremony for the Integrated Contaminated Soil Management Centre in February 2017 performed in Bori by the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, federal government had incorporation of the Ogoni Trust Fund and Escrow Account opened in Standard Chartered Bank of London for the board of trustee of HYPREP and credited with $177m in April -August 2018. Mobilization of contractor and hand-over of sites to contractors handing over 16 polluted sites to companies that would clean them up in December 2018,” he noted