$3.5b Brass Fertiliser, Petrochemical Project: Bayelsa Seeks Equity Stake

…Diri assures pf support, commends Tinubu
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Bayelsa State government has solicited for equity stake in the Brass Fertiliser and Petrochemical Company project about to commence on the Brass Island in the state.

Governor Douye Diri made the request on Tuesday when the management team of the company paid him a courtesy visit in Government House, Yenagoa.

The Bayelsa governor said the state’s position became necessary due to the negative fallouts in excluding oil producing states and local governments from the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).

Senator Diri in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Daniel Alabrah, contended that implementation of the PIA had been hampered in host communities due to the anomaly in the legislation.

He noted that the disregard in the PIA of the Nigerian Constitution, which vests control of land in the state government, was a flaw that has necessitated calls for its review.

His words: “Let us ensure that the state is not totally excluded from being partners in progress in this whole process. The PIA is one good example.

“When it was in its formative stages as a bill, we made a presentation through the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice. We did that after consulting with our people, communities and chiefs. But at the end of the day, our inputs were ignored and thrown overboard as the PIA excluded the oil producing states and their local governments.

“The federal government now interacts directly with the communities and that is an affront on the Nigerian Constitution. The Constitution says the land belongs to the state government and not the federal government.

“The Constitution recognises communities as under the local government and the state government. These anomalies in the PIA have made the law a time bomb.

“Today, because of the PIA, there are intra and inter-communal conflicts and litigations. So even funds that have been realised for their development cannot be disbursed to the communities. If anybody thinks the state is not much important, we will then wash off our hands.”

The governor expressed the hope that the petrochemical company would be different and urged the management to partner the state government to correct the imbalance and avert conflicts in its host communities.

Diri, who commended the President Bola Tinubu administration for resuscitating the project, said it was long overdue.

He said that the Brass Fertiliser and Petrochemical Company was conceptualised in 2009 but gained some traction during the administration of his predecessor before it fizzled out again.

He equally appreciated the president for his positive response to the state’s requests for federal government presence as exemplified in revival of the fertiliser and petrochemical project.

Speaking earlier, Managing Director of the Brass Fertiliser and Petrochemical Company, Chief Ben Okoye, said the visit was to formally inform the state government that work on the $3.5 billion project would start in October this year.

Chief Okoye explained that the 10,000 metric tonnes of methanol per day project was delayed as there was no agreement reached on the gas component but that President Tinubu last October directed the Minister of State for Petroleum (Gas) to get it started and that the agreement was signed in January this year.

He assured the state government that the necessary steps have been taken to implement the project in full and thanked the governor for constructing the Nembe-Brass road, which he noted would save the company up to $100,000 in logistics costs in moving equipment and materials on the river to the project site.

The Project Coordinator, Mr. Cyril Akika, in a presentation, listed the benefits of the project to include economic transformation as more than 15,000 jobs would be created during construction and over 5,000 permanent jobs.

He also stated that the project would increase tax revenues, royalties, internally generated revenue, boost Bayelsa SMEs through project supply chains and equity dividends for the state.

Other benefits include infrastructure and community impact, positioning of the Brass Free Zone as global petrochemical hub as well as development of port, jetty, logistics base and a 300MW gas-fired power plant to ensure energy security among others.