There are palpable tension in the Niger-Delta as the
President Bola Tinubu administration sets to split the N4billion monthly
pipeline surveillance contract awarded to Government Ekpemupkolo also
know as Tompolo.
It was gathered that entrenched interests within the
corridors of power, the Presidency precisely, may have perfected plans
to bifurcate the contract between Tompolo and another warlord, Asari
Dokubo
Recall that the surveillance contract, reportedly worth
N48 billion per year (N4 billion per month), was awarded by the Nigerian
National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) on behalf of the
immediate-past administration of Muhammadu Buhari in August 2022.
NNPCL’s CEO, Mele Kyari, while speaking at the 49th
session of the state house briefing at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on
August 29 last year, said the decision was necessitated by the need for
Nigeria to hire private contractors to man its oil pipeline network
nationwide due to massive oil theft.
Kyari argued that it was not the first time that
individuals within the Niger Delta region were awarded contracts for
pipeline surveillance.
It was gathered yesterday evening that a proposal
prepared by close confidants of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to review
the contract was already awaiting presidential approval.
A highly placed source, who is in the know that many
issues were reviewed in the proposal, especially the surveillance
contract awarded to Tompolo.
The source said: “One of the key issues silently looked into was the pipeline contract that was awarded to Tompolo.
“You know there were so many opinions on the matter and
it almost created another round of friction in the Niger Delta. “Some
wanted an outright cancellation of the contract, honestly.
“But to be sincere, there was nothing wrong in having the private sector participate in protecting our national assets.
“However, the volume is so enormous that it could breed another round of crisis.
“Again, we need to be careful not to fully depend on a private individual without third eyes.
“So Mr. President directed a silent move to review the whole arrangement.
“It is not as if the president does not want it to
continue, but he wants a situation whereby everything that is done seems
to carry all stakeholders along.
“So, we have devised a means that will be all-inclusive
of critical stakeholders but they must also act the way Tompolo is
acting to shore up our production output.
“There is nothing political in the arrangement that we are floating and it is already awaiting the approval of the President.”
It was also gathered that one of Tinubu’s staunch
supporters in the Niger Delta region, Alhaji Dokubo Asari, who had
allegedly been at the forefront of the agitation against the
surveillance contract given to Tompolo was among the brains behind the
latest move to split the job.
It was learned that he was likely to be a major beneficiary if the president gives his approval eventually.
According to our source, one of Dokubo’s grouses against
Tompolo is that the former warlord did not hide his preference for
PDP’s Atiku Abubakar in the last presidential election.
The source said: “Dokubo has a genuine case, but his
approach may be wrong, no doubt. His insistence that Tompolo does not
deserve to be that much compensated is a very genuine argument.
“I was among those interfaced with Tompolo in the
build-up to the presidential election. We had an agreement to work
together but he reneged at the last minute.
“Even at that, Mr President still made a final push for
him to deliver Omo- Agege but he did the worst. So how can someone like
that now turn around to be the chief celebrant of the game? That is
Dokubo’s argument.”
Among those who are rooting for the splitting of the
surveillance include a close relationship with President Tinubu who
heads a multi-billion naira.
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