Some militant groups in the Niger Delta have risen to defend Adokiye Tombomieye, Chief Operating Officer (COO), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Upstream Sector, over allegation that he masterminded the controversial three per cent provision for the Host Communities Trust Fund in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
Some Niger Delta groups were said to have alleged that the three per cent provision for oil producing communities in the PIA was masterminded by Mr. Adokiye Tombomieye following his professional advice to the relevant National Assembly committees.
The groups, under the aegis of the Reformed Niger Delta Avengers (RNDA), exonerated Tombomieye from the controversy.
The group said he did not play any role in what led to the approval of three per cent in the PIA as claimed by some traducers peddling false allegations and misinformation against him.
“Preliminary investigation into the controversy that led to the provision of three per cent for HCTF in the PIA showed that Mr. Adokiye Tombomieye did not play any role”
The RNDA in a statement on Sunday after its emergency meeting by the Coordinator, ‘General’ Johnmark Ezon-Ebi, warned group of persons sponsoring or peddling such unfounded allegation to desist from it or face the consequences of their blackmail and malignation.
The RNDA vowed that if the traducers failed to stop maligning Tombomieye, whom they described as an innocent man, they would be forced to declare them wanted and tag them as enemies of the peace and development of the region.
The RNDA said the allegation was far from being the truth and insulated him from the allegation, fingering some corrupt minded personalities from the region as the brain behind what transpired in the PIA.
The coalition said: “Preliminary investigation into the controversy that led to the provision of three per cent for HCTF in the PIA showed that Mr. Adokiye Tombomieye did not play any role in what led to the approval of three per cent in the PIA as allegedly claimed by some group of disgruntled elements from the region who are misinformed and peddling the allegations.
“Tombomieye is a bonafide son of Ijaw from Kalabari, Rivers State, Niger Delta. The allegation that he masterminded the inclusion of three per cent in the PIA is a lie from the pit of hell and it is highly condemnable.
“For the umpteenth time, we wish to state that he does not have any hand in the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) and was never a member of the National Assembly committee on PIB that passed the bill into law. He has never been involved in any corrupt practices or shady oil deals neither was he involved in any fraudulent financial misappropriation at the NNPC.”
The group called on the people of the region, the management of the NNPC and the Presidency to disregard the purported planned protest march over the PIA issue.
It said: “We call on all and sundary with the Presidency to ignore and disregard any of such frivolous statements and petitions which were sponsored by some groups of criminally minded corrupt personalities that is out to dent the image of Tombomieye.
“Tombomieye has worked tirelessly hard to bring about transformational policies and programmes of transparency, accountability and sustainability which have driven the NNPC management to a speedy growth that have added massive economic value to the GDP of our country’s revenue support base.
“Tombomieye was in charge of crude oil movement as the crude oil then at the NNPC Towers, the nation’s crude oil production was stable and high up to 2.6 to 2.8 million barrels daily without any shortfall in the daily crude oil production data.”
SOURCE: tgnews.com.ng