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Special Adviser to Pres-ident Umaru Musa Yar’Adua on Petroleum Matters, Emmanuel Egbogah, told the Financial Times yesterday that the President supported transferring wealth from the national oil company to delta communities.
THIS DAY had on Sunday, October 11 reported the details of the meeting between President Yar’Adua and repentant militants at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa on Friday, October 9, 2009.
In the report, the newspaper also hinted that a Supplementary Appropriation Bill was under way to give effect to the President’s new development plan for the Niger Delta.
Following the report, the President informed the ex-militants of his plans for the Niger Delta to include:
– 10 per cent community ownership in JV businesses
– 5 per cent JV stake reserved for Nigerians
– Investment in new coastal railway line
– Dualisation and completion of East-West highway.
The FT newspaper said the initiative, if approved by the National Assembly, would signal a new phase in government efforts to forge a lasting peace in the key production area of the world’s eighth largest oil exporter. But the newspaper said the plan had to clear expected opposition from other Nigerian regions.
Source: Allafrica