Tinubu, NNPCL urged to jettison establishing five mini LNG plants in Kogi

President Bola Tinubu and the National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) have been urged to jettison the implementation of five mini LNG plants in Kogi State.

The National Chairman of Urhobo Oil and Gas Nationality, Dr Obiuwevbi Ominimini, who made the call on Friday, said that running a gas pipeline from Urhobo land to supply the five mini LNG plants in Kogi without Urhobo hosting any of them is oppressive.

He said, “This is oppressive to the Urhobo Nation. Urhobo ethnic nationality has the highest reserve of gas and crude oil in Nigeria but has nothing to show for it.

Our children who turn out from tertiary institutions yearly are roaming the streets of Delta, with many riding okadas, while the children of the top-class Northerners are being engaged in the oil and gas parastatals owned by the Nigerian government. This is unacceptable.

“We can’t farm or fish any longer as our environment has been destroyed by oil exploitation activities. Urhobo land is even more devastated than Ogoni land, yet there is no environmental remediation or clean-up.

“The gas flare penalty paid by the International Oil Companies (IOCs) to the federal government has no single benefit to the Urhobo people, yet gas flaring is a major source of diseases for our people. This is another evil against the Urhobo Nation.”

“President Tinubu, NUPRC, and NNPCL chief executives are hereby called upon to consider the Urhobo Nation to host some or at least one of the mini LNG plants. One of the factors to consider in establishing an industry is proximity to the source of raw materials.

Also, Urhobo has access to the sea, with seaports at Sapele and Warri, which is another means of transporting LNG for export purposes.”

He vowed that the Urhobo Nation would do everything within its power to fight back legally and spiritually if they were excluded from the establishment of the new mini-LNG plants.

He said the people have been taken for granted for too long in Nigeria, while those who have solid minerals like gold, lithium, tin, columbite, iron ore, etc., are taking them for themselves. Meanwhile, Urhobo oil and gas are being siphoned, and the proceeds are used for the entire country.

He added, “We can’t accept this injustice any longer. Enough is enough.”

The NNPCL had last week flagged off the construction of five mini Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) plants in Ajaokuta, Kogi State, saying it was part of its commitment to driving the country’s gas revolution.

The initiative, it said, was aimed at expanding Nigeria’s domestic gas utilization and is expected to boost energy access, support industrialization, and create job opportunities.

Ominimini, however, recalled that the Urhobo Oil and Gas Nationality (UROAGAN) had called on the same federal government and NNPCL in 2024 to establish LNG plants in Urhobo land—one in Ughelli North Area and another in Ethiope West Area—but received no response.

He expressed shock at hearing about the five mini LNG plants in Kogi, with the gas to be taken from the Urhobo Nation in Delta State and part of it from Edo State.

He declared such an action unacceptable, adding, “Enough is enough.”