•Believes it’s in best interest of Nigeria, efficiency
The Coalition of Civil Society Organisations, yesterday, endorsed the redeployment of some personnel of the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) from Abuja to Lagos, stating the decision has been unduly politicised and misconstrued to mean leaving Abuja.
The group’s spokesperson, Comrade Shina Loremikan, while addressing a press briefing, maintained that the planned movement of field officers to Lagos should be endorsed and supported by everyone as it promises to bring NUPRC much closer to the oil and gas companies and other stakeholders as well as position the agency to operate more efficiently while minimising cost and maximising returns to the government and nation.
Loremikan maintained that the decision has been unduly politicised and misconstrued to mean leaving Abuja.
“This constitutes a distraction to the NUPRC under the leadership of Komolafe that means so well for the industry and Nigeria as illustrated in the bold steps taken to make a positive impact in the past few years.
“We need to state that in nation building Nigerians should desist from attaching ethnicity and baseless arguments to nation building. We as a group, believes in nation building supports this effort of the agency.
“With clear mandates – ensuring compliance with petroleum laws, regulations and guidelines, monitoring of operations at drilling sites, producing wells, production platforms and flow stations, crude oil export terminals, and all pipelines carrying crude oil, and natural gas, supervising operations being carried out under licenses and leases, monitoring operations to ensure that they are in line with national goals and aspirations – the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission, NUPRC, occupies a very influential position in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
“Consequently, some persons, including politicians and analysts, who are aware of its various roles, have come to perceive the actions of NUPRC more from the realm of politics than economics. They keep a close watch on the activities in the agency and would complain about almost every development that does not fit into their pre-conceived idealism, instead of embracing realism based on purely economic considerations.
“Take the latest efforts to move some personnel, especially field officers to Lagos, where many oil and gas companies have offices for example. The truth is that with the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act, a comprehensive legislation, targeted at achieving restructuring, repositioning, increased productivity and transparency and accountability, the NUPRC inherited many personnel and its current building in Abuja from the defunct Department of Petroleum Resources, (DPR).
“Meanwhile, NUPRC still bears the financial and other costs of taking them frequently to Lagos, Warri and Port Harcourt to carry out their official duties.”
