Bayelsa Commissioner Urges FG, IOCs In The N’ Delta To Draw Up A New Fiscal Regime To Address Underdevelopment

Elder Markson Fefegha

The Bayelsa State Commissioner for Mineral Resources, Elder Markson Fefegha, has called on the Federal Government and the International Oil Companies,(IOCs), operating in the Niger Delta Region to urgently address the glaring neglect and underdevelopment of the area, as a panacea for peace in the region.

Elder Fefegha was speaking as a panelist in a session on the topic: “Maximizing Nigeria’s Oil and Gas Potential: Learning from the Past; Preparing for the Future”, which was chaired by Chief Don Etiebet, a former Minister of Petroleum Resources at the just concluded Nigeria International Petroleum Summit organized by the Federal Ministry of Petroleum in Abuja.

Citing Oloibiri as a glaring symbol of neglect and deprivation of the oil producing areas, the Commissioner maintained that, there should be inclusiveness and deliberate plans to reverse the underdevelopment in the region.

This, he maintained, could be achieved by drawing up a more robust and comprehensive Fiscal Regime by the Federal Government, through legislations and policy framework implemented by the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources. 

Quoting Governor Dickson, Fefegha noted that, a purposeful inclusion of the Oil Producing Areas for development is necessary, because “ what others call Oil Wells are indeed the ancestral properties of the people of the Niger Delta Region”.