By Nasir Kura
The federal government said on Wednesday that 21 firms would be mobilised in the next two weeks for the clean-up of the Ogoni oil spills and reclamation of the environment.
Minister of State for Environment, Mr. Ibrahim Jubril, who disclosed this to State House correspondents at the end of the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in Abuja, said already $180 million was contributed by major oil companies for the exercise.
He said the $180 million, from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and other joint ventures companies, was currently domiciled in a special escrow account with the Standard Chartered Bank of London.
“Currently, there is funding for the cleanup. But remember that this is the first time the government has done something. Because of the confidence that the oil companies have in the government, the governance structures that have been put in place, the opening of the Ogoni Trust Fund has been able to mobilise $180 million dollars from the oil companies
“The funds came from the NNPC, SPDC and other ventures. The $180 million is in the Escrow account with the Standard Chartered Bank of London and the Board of Trustee is managing it.
“So, as far as we are concerned, we can beat our chest and say that the Buhari administration has shown the way forward on this clean up exercise and we hope and pray that the people whom we are working for will have cause to laugh and smile very soon,” he said.
The minister said the ministry’s tender board had already considered the submission of the procurement department of Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) and 15 lots were up for grabs, which the governing council of the Ogoni Trust Fund would ratify on Friday.
