N'Delta should have a say in oil sector development - Expert

Port Harcourt -- The people of Niger Delta region, as custodian of oil and gas resources in the country, should be backed constitutionally to have a say in every organisation and agencies saddled with petroleum resources, says an industry expert and stakeholder

in the region.

A former Group General Manager, Upstream Investment Division of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Dr. Joseph Ellah, said people from the region should be represented on the board of every ministry, department and agencies that has to do with oil and gas development.

Ellah, who spoke in Port Harcourt, disclosed that the call was necessary since it was the people of the region who suffered the brunt of crude oil and gas exploitation, ranging from oil spills, gas flaring and degraded ecosystem.

He explained that the United States of America contributes the highest to the World Bank and, therefore, produces the Managing Director of the World Bank every time, and wondered why the reverse was the case for Nigeria and her crude oil host communities.

According to him, "The Niger Delta people as custodian of oil should be allowed to have a say in all the organisations set up for petroleum resources".