The Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse III, has challenged Niger Delta activist Asari Dokubo to provide documentary evidence to support his allegation that the monarch and others receive ₦2.7 trillion annually from pipeline surveillance contracts.
The challenge was contained in a statement issued on Tuesday by Prince Collins Oritsetjmeyin Edema, the Sole Representative of the Olu of Warri to NNPC Limited/JV Partners, in response to Dokubo’s allegation.
Dokubo had questioned the alleged award of pipeline surveillance contracts to certain individuals and companies, alleging that the Olu of Warri and others receive the claimed ₦2.7 trillion annually.
Reacting to the allegation, Edema said Dokubo’s latest intervention could not be divorced entirely from the public persona he had cultivated over several decades, which he described as being associated with militancy, confrontation and an uncompromising style of political expression.
He, however, warned that statements concerning the Olu of Warri, Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited (PINL), Tompolo and other stakeholders in the sector could have consequences beyond immediate public arguments, particularly in a politically and ethnically sensitive environment.
Edema stressed that pipeline surveillance contracts in Nigeria were not ordinary commercial arrangements, noting that the country’s oil and gas infrastructure constituted a critical national asset.
According to him, the security of the nation’s pipelines has direct implications for crude oil production, government revenue, foreign exchange earnings and the stability of the wider economy.
He also warned against rhetoric capable of reopening ethnic tensions in the Niger Delta, saying the region had already paid a heavy price for politics conducted through confrontation and inflammatory statements.
Edema said it would be unfortunate if what he described as old habits of militancy and unguarded speech were allowed to revive ethnic anxieties that responsible stakeholders were working to put behind them.
“The attention of the Sole Representative of His Majesty Ogiame Atuwatse III, CFR, the Olu of Warri to NNPC Limited, has been drawn to the recent public allegation by Mr Asari Dokubo that His Majesty receives the sum of N2.7 trillion annually from pipeline surveillance contracts,” the statement said.
“Given the extraordinary nature of this allegation, its potential implications for the reputation of the Olu of Warri, and, more importantly, the strategic importance of pipeline surveillance to the Nigerian state, we consider it necessary to respond publicly and directly to the relevant institutions of the federal government.”
Edema said the allegation was completely rejected by the monarch’s representatives.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the allegation that the Olu of Warri receives N2.7 trillion annually from pipeline surveillance contracts is categorically rejected,” the statement said.
The monarch’s representative subsequently challenged Dokubo to substantiate the allegation with evidence.
“We challenge Mr Dokubo to produce the documentary evidence upon which this extraordinary claim is based,” the statement added.
