Anambra Governor Signs Oil Producing Areas Development Bill into Law

The Governor of Anambra State Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, has signed into law,  a bill establishing the Anambra State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, ANSOPADEC, which is  saddled with the responsibility of seeing to the development of host communities according to their needs assessment.

The state commissioner for Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Mr Anthony Ifeanya, announced this during a 2-day Capacity Building workshop for leaders of Oil and Gas Producing Host Communities in the Niger Delta on “Strategic Leadership Skills and Host Communities Provision in the Petroleum Industrial Act, PIA.”

In his welcome address, Mr Ifeanya charged the forum to also deliberate as they progress, the establishment of Management Committee for host communities in Ogbaru Council Area, which should have been established 30 days after the establishment of Host Communities Trust Fund by SEEPCO as well as Advisory Committee by Management Committee, 30 days after their establishment.

Ifeanya, who disclosed that all these are registered by Corporate Affairs Commission and supervised by Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulations Commission, NUPRC and backed by law to arrest restiveness and crisis, frowned that bunkering has started rearing its ugly head in Anambra State despite Governor Soludo’s committement to making host communities, model communities.

He, however, stressed the urgent need for confidence building between operators, state and host communities since a total of four states are involved in the derivation computation of OML 143 due to the surface closure of the reservoir.

The workshop was targeted at fostering collaboration and partnership among leaders, IOCs, and other stakeholders to ensure the successful implementation of the Host Communities Provision in the PIA and enhance the capacity of leaders to facilitate inclusive and sustainable development in their communities through effective leadership and stakeholder engagement among others.

The workshop, which was held in Awka, the state capital, had in attendance, participants from Abia, Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Imo, Ondo and Rivers States.