Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State has accused multinational oil companies operating in the Niger Delta of double standards on issues relating to compensation for oil spills resulting from their exploration activities as well as remediation of the environment and payment.
Dickson spoke over the weekend when a delegation led by the Minister of Environment, Amina Mohammed and the Minister of State in that Ministry, Ibrahim Jibril, paid him a courtesy call in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa state capital.
According to him, “All stakeholders have a role to play to address the weaknesses that are inherent in the institutions in this country, which some of the oil majors are exploiting and as it were to create two standards; one standard that is Nigerian and another that is Niger Delta where they can pollute and damage everything and suffer no consequences at all and another international standard, where if there is a spill in the Gulf of Mexico, BP will pay billions of dollars and pounds.”
“You really can’t know the Niger Delta until you have visited Bayelsa State. This is the epicentre of the Niger Delta with all of its blessings, prospects and challenges,” the Governor added.
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