‘NUPRC not relocating out of Abuja as wrongly speculated’
A coalition of civil society organisations (CSOs), on Friday, endorsed the redeployment of some personnel of the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) to Lagos, saying the decision would foster accountability, productivity and cost savings to the nation. The CSOs, however, stated that based on their findings the commission is not relocating its headquarters to Lagos, […]
A coalition of civil society organisations (CSOs), on Friday, endorsed the redeployment of some personnel of the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) to Lagos, saying the decision would foster accountability, productivity and cost savings to the nation.
The CSOs, however, stated that based on their findings the commission is not relocating its headquarters to Lagos, saying, “NUPRC not leaving Abuja as erroneously speculated.”
Daily Trust reports that the reports about NUPRC relocating some of its departments to Lagos had generated controversy. This is coming after the relocation of the departments of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as well as the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria.
The Commission Chief Executive, Gbenga Komolafe, had told Daily Trust the relocation of the department is in national interest.
But addressing a press conference in Lagos, the spokesperson of the coalition, Comrade Shina Loremikan, urged Nigerians not to politicize or ethnicise a simple administrative procedure.
The NUPRC, an agency under the Ministry of Petroleum ensures compliance with petroleum laws, regulations and guidelines, monitoring of operations at drilling sites, producing wells, production platforms and flowstations, crude oil export terminals, and all pipelines carrying crude oil, and natural gas, supervising operations being carried out under licenses and leases, among others.
Loremikan lamented that some persons, including politicians and analysts, “who are aware of its various roles, have come to perceive the actions of NUPRC more from the realm of politics than economics.”
“They keep a close watch on the activities in the agency and would complain about almost every development that does not fit into their pre-conceived idealism, instead of embracing realism based on purely economic considerations.
“Take the latest efforts to move some personnel, especially field officers to Lagos, where many oil and gas companies have offices for example. The truth is that with the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act, a comprehensive legislation, targeted at achieving restructuring, repositioning, increased productivity and transparency and accountability, the NUPRC inherited many personnel and its current building in Abuja from the defunct Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR. Sadly, many personnel do not have offices but work with their laptops from unsuitable locations, including conference rooms and corridors,” the CSOs added.
Loremikan added that the good intention of the commission “has been unduly politicized and misconstrued to mean leaving Abuja,” stating, “This constitutes a distraction to the NUPRC under the leadership of Engr. Komolafe that means so well for the industry and Nigeria as illustrated in the bold steps taken to make a positive impact in the past few years.”
He stated that in nation building, Nigerians “should desist from attaching ethnicity and baseless arguments to nation building.”
“Indeed, the planned movement of field officers to Lagos should be endorsed and supported by everyone as it promises to not only bring NUPRC much closer to the oil and gas companies and other stakeholders but also position the agency to operate more efficiently while minimizing cost and maximizing returns to the government and nation.”
Also speaking, Comrade Declan Ihekaire, said the NUPRC leadership should be commended for taking a bold step to save cost by relocating some of the field workers.