HOR Threatens To Arrest Leaders Of Oil Companies

Three committees tasked with investigating the execution of corporate social responsibility by multinational oil companies and other corporate entities in the South-South Region of the country have threatened to issue warrant of arrests on the leaders of the companies that failed to honour their summons.

The chairman of the three committees, Professor Obiageli Lilian Orogbu frowned at the failure of some major oil companies to attend the investigative hearing which held at the National Assembly complex in Abuja.

Professor Orogbu warned that she and her co-chairmen as well as the entire members of the committees would not hesitate to deal with any organization that failed to respect the assignment given to the investigative panel.

“The House has asked us to carry out this exercise based on quantum of petitions from host communities against most of you and we will not take kindly with any organization that decides to undermine this assignment” Professor Orogbu stressed.

Professor Orogbu who had in her opening remarks emphasized that the essence of the investigative hearing was borne out of genuine intention of the parliament to see that corporate bodies operating in Nigeria keep to best practices of corporate and environmental behaviours within their host communities acknowledged that “reports at the disposal of the parliament showed that a lot of you are lagging behind in this regard”.

“We want to see a change and also ensure that what you do as corporate social responsibility to your hosts are commensurate with the level of businesses you do. Some of you observe corporate social responsibility in other countries you operate but you fail to do same here because nobody cares”.

“We want a new Nigeria and we need you to work together with the government to rebuild this country. I know that some of you are doing quite well but there are many of you that are not responsible enough“. The chairman further stressed.

Members were also not happy that the companies that attended the hearing didn’t come with the evidences of what they had done for their host communities and for that reason, the meeting was rescheduled for another date which will be communicated to them by the secretariat.

The committees involved in the investigative hearing are the Corporate Social Responsibility, Niger Delta Development Commission and that of Host Communities.

The Oil companies that attended include: Dubri Oil company, Lee Engineering, Equinor Oil, Famfa oil, Sahara Group, Network E&P Ltd, Monipulo Ltd, GereenVille LNG, Chirus Energy, Seplat Energy, Roviigs Ltd and Chevron.

Oduyemi Odumade, Edited By Grace Namiji