Ijaw congress vows to resist relocation of NAPIMS to Abuja

Ijaw National Congress (INC) has vowed to resist alleged moves by the Federal Government to relocate the National Petroleum Investment Services unit (NAPIMS) to Abuja. It lamented that the move would frustrate its agitations for the relocation of International Oil Companies to the Niger Delta region.

INC Publicity Secretary, Ezonebi Oyakemeagbegha, in a statement yesterday, said the intended relocation of NAPIMS out of Lagos to Abuja was an indirect way of inviting all the IOCs to follow suit.

He described the move as a daylight robbery and atrocity if allowed to happen.He said for the Federal Government to make such moves without minding the outcry by the people, smacks of insensitivity.

Oyakemeagbegha accused the Federal Government of conniving with the NNPC GMD Mr. Mele Kyari and other NPPC top executive directors from the northern part to pay deaf ears to the continuous call for the relocation of the IOCs to the South South.

“The NAPIMS 36/38 office at Gerard Road is near the Ikoyi collapsed building, and as a follow up to the ugly incident, the Group General Manager of the NNPC, Bala Wunti, a northerner, had issued a directive, via the corporation’s internal memorandum, directing all staff to vacate the NAPIMS office and work from home, while the top management and a few other essential staff should work from NipeX office situated at No 8/10 Bayo Kuku Ikoyi, pending the outcome of the Structural Integrity Test carried out to ascertain the fitness of the building for reoccupation.

“We are fully aware that the building is fit and very stable for staff to resume their normal duties, but, Mr. President, Mr. Mele Kyari, and his cohorts from the North are bent on pulling NAPIMS out of Lagos at all cost and has failed to listen, hear or accept any advice with respect to the resumption of work at the NAPIMS Gerrard Ikoyi building.”

“It has come to our knowledge that a property too small to accommodate the over 500 staff of NAPIMS has been acquired in Abuja, but rather than address the office accommodation need of the company, another building has been rented for the staff

We of the Niger Delta and South-South region will not continue to fold our hands and watch while our people are being treated like slaves and made to play the second fiddle role in a country that we all own,” he stated.