…Insists PINL earns N250bn yearly, not N2.7trn

Niger Delta activist, Fejiro Oliver, has accused Asari Dokubo of allegedly seeking to take over the Eastern Corridor pipeline surveillance contract, dismissing claims that Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited (PINL) earns N2.7 trillion annually from the arrangement.
Oliver, who initiated the Guard Your Pipeline and I Guard My Own movement, said PINL earns slightly over N250 billion annually from pipeline surveillance on the Eastern Corridor.

He made the clarification at a press briefing in Abuja yesterday to address controversies surrounding pipeline surveillance contracts in the Niger Delta.
Oliver alleged that inflated figures were being circulated to mislead the public and justify efforts to displace PINL from the Eastern Corridor contract.
He said the movement, established in March, was campaigning for the decentralisation of pipeline surveillance contracts to ensure that communities across the Niger Delta benefited fairly from the arrangement.

According to him, the campaign was not motivated by ethnic considerations but by the need to promote equity in the distribution of the contracts.
Oliver said the movement had consistently argued that Tantita Security Services and Maton Engineering should not have exclusive control over contracts reportedly worth N2.1 trillion when other capable contractors were available in different communities.
He noted that three contractors engaged in pipeline surveillance were owned by Ijaw people, while PINL, whose managing director is Osahon Okunbo, an Edo man, operates on the Eastern Corridor under the chairmanship of the Olu of Warri, an Itsekiri monarch.

The activist faulted social media reports which he said had misrepresented the objectives of his campaign, particularly claims that PINL received N2.7 trillion annually.
He also recalled that Dokubo had previously commended PINL, the Olu of Warri, Okunbo and the late Captain Nosa, the company’s founder, for their management of the Eastern Corridor and engagement with stakeholders.
“For the avoidance of doubt, PINL gets a little over N250 billion annually, which is a far cry from even the N2.1 trillion,” Oliver said.

He argued that the Eastern Corridor contract should remain with PINL, which he said provided representation for the Itsekiri and Edo people.
Oliver urged other ethnic groups in the Niger Delta, including the Urhobo, Isoko, Ilaje, Opobo, Bakassi, Ibibio, Efik and Ogoni, to pursue greater participation in pipeline surveillance contracts rather than seek to displace existing beneficiaries.
He also urged Dokubo to engage with his kinsmen over the distribution of surveillance contracts instead of seeking to take over the Eastern Corridor contract.