Buhari to Allocate Oil Blocks to Niger Delta Indigenes – Kachikwu

Buhari to Allocate Oil Blocks to Niger Delta Indigenes – Kachikwu

The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, has said President Muhammadu Buhari has not allocated a single oil block since he came into office but will allocate to South-South indigenes when he eventually does.

Kachikwu, who was speaking at a town hall meeting in Uyo, organised by the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, was responding to a question on why the north has been favoured in the allocation of oil blocks rather than the Niger Delta, the oil-producing region.

According to ThisDay, Kachikwu said Buhari will follow due process in the allocation of oil blocks when the time comes.

Kachikwu also said he disagrees with the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, on the establishment and maintenance of the Maritime University in Akwa-Ibom.

On resumption of office, Amaechi vowed to scrap the Maritime University. Amaechi has argued that there was corruption in the allocation of land and other facilities in the university.

“I disagree with the minister of transport. Any facility in the South-south, we should work towards developing it, I don’t care the circumstance. It is not my business whether land was valued at 19 or 10 million,” he said responding to Amaechi’s claim that land for the university was valued at N13 billion.

“That has nothing to do with development of infrastructure. As far as I know, so much has already gone into that, so much fiscal asset has been developed. We are not going to throw away the baby and the bath water.

“We’ll deal with the issues but the university will be developed. If he (Amaechi) doesn’t want it in maritime, I will take it in Petroleum.

“On the issue of negotiations, again I disagree with him. There’s no theatre in the world where conflicts are being resolved through battle. It doesn’t matter who’s right, who’s wrong.”