A coalition of civil society organisations has called for a forensic audit of the $366 million Ogoni clean-up, stating that the remediation programme had failed to address the pollution and environmental degradation in the area.
The CSOs also called for field assessments of the projects carried out in Ogoniland by the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project under the Federal Ministry of Environment to ascertain its adherence to the United Nations Environment Programme recommendations.
The coalition, in a communique issued at the end of an engagement forum on the Ogoni project on Wednesday, stated that no clean-up was done on any river in Ogoniland “as the waters are still highly polluted and the environment messed up with crude oil.”
They noted that no significant development projects had been undertaken despite the millions of dollars released to the HYPREP.
The statement was jointly signed by the President, Ogoni Liberation Initiative, Dr Fabeke Douglas; Coordinator, Restore Nigeria Integrity Initiative, Victor Itsede; Executive Director, Initiative for Leadership & Economic Watch, Amb. Splendour Agbonkpolor; President, Civil Society Group for Good Governance, Dominic Ogakwu; Executive Director, Centre for Peace, Transparency and Accountability, Patrick Ogheneyero and Executive Director, Beam TV, Blessing Ambrose.
Following the UNEP report in 2011 which recommended a hydrocarbon remediation programme with the mandate to clean up Ogoniland after years of pollution, the Federal Government had announced a $1 billion clean-up and restoration programme of the Ogoniland region in the Niger Delta.
But the civil society groups alleged that a lack of openness, transparency and a secretive fund disbursement system had hampered the operations of HYPREP “which has made the body expend huge funds running into $366m without any tangible project to show.”
The coalition also said the rivers said to have been cleaned by HYPREP are unfit for consumption despite the release of $366m to the agency.
It said, “It is regrettable that despite millions of dollars released to HYPREP by the UNEP, there is no significant development undertaken by the body. The situation where rivers that are claimed to have been cleaned are still poisonous to drink is said to be the scam of the century.
“Lack of political will and poor leadership on the part of the ministry of environment is a major problem in ensuring an effective clean-up project in Ogoni land. Lack of openness, transparency and a highly secretive fund disbursement system has hampered the operations of HYPREP which has made the body to expend huge funds running into $366m without any tangible project to show.
“Despite the alleged clean-up of 11 lots, there is no single actual clean-up done on any river in Ogoniland as the waters are still highly polluted and the environment messed up with crude.”
The group further said the companies executing remediation jobs in Ogoniland lacked the requisite experience in remediation projects of such magnitude.
The ministry of environment spokesman, Sagir Mohammed could not be reached for comment but an analyst, Victor Giwa, said he was not surprised by the allegations because the process was not transparent, adding that Nigerians needed a monthly update of the project.
“I think the people of Nigeria deserved to know what is going on in respect of the project. There should be accountability; so, any call for investigation or audit is justified. We need to know who is carrying out the projects and how far they have gone,” said Giwa, who is also the Coordinator, Advocate for People’s Rights and Justice.
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