N/Assembly panel summons minister over $1bn Ogoni cleanup contract

The National Assembly Joint Committee on Host Communities has summoned the Minister of Environment, Mohammed Abdullahi, over the $1bn Ogoni clean up project. The panel also summoned the management of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project (HYPREP), the agency coordinating the clean-up. NIGERIA DAILY: Lecturers Call On God As ASUU Strike Bites Harder JUST IN: Barkindo, […]

The National Assembly Joint Committee on Host Communities has summoned the Minister of Environment, Mohammed Abdullahi, over the $1bn Ogoni clean up project.

The panel also summoned the management of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project (HYPREP), the agency coordinating the clean-up.

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The project, backed by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), was flagged off in June 2016 by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo amid fanfare.

The chairman of the committee, Degi Eremienyo, expressed disappointment over the slow pace of the project despite the payment of $1 billion.

Speaking with newsmen yesterday at the National Assembly, the lawmaker said the panel had invited the environment ministry’s officials on three occasions to brief it on the project but the invitations were not honoured.

He said their refusal to appear before the committee was an indication that they were concealing information about Ogoni clean up.