Energy Reforms Advocates of Nigeria (ERAN) has faulted the National Commission for the Decommissioning of Oil and Gas Installations (NC-DOGI) Bill, 2024, before the National Assembly.
The group expressed its feeling on Sunday during street protest in Abuja, where it also issued a blunt ultimatum to the National Assembly, saying: “Do not keep it alive. Do not smuggle it. Do not rename it. Bury it today so Nigeria can breathe tomorrow.”
Its Executive Director, Comr. Abba Henry, analysed the proposed law, adding that:”it is another feeding bottle for the boys” and “a poisoned dagger aimed at the heart of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).”
He added: “Nigeria is broke. Our debt is choking us. Yet some senators want to birth a brand-new commission that will swallow billions just to watch old pipes rust.
“We already have the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
“They have the staff, the laws, the labs, and the muscle to decommission any platform from Bonny to Forcados.
“Why create a third referee when the field already has two?”
He warned that NC-DOGI will only breed confusion, scare investors, and open fresh pipelines for corruption.
“One agency will approve the plan, another will supervise the cutting, and the third will fight over who collects the contractor’s kickback. Investors hate chaos.
“They will simply take their dollars to Ghana,” Abba added .
He said that the PIA, signed only four years ago after twenty years of labour, is still settling, adding, “the ink is still wet. Don’t tear the book to add a new chapter nobody asked for.”
ERAN launched a five-word battle cry—“KILL THIS BILL”—and promised to flood the National Assembly gates with petitions, live-stream town halls in every oil community from Eket to Yenagoa, and drag the bill to court if it smells passage.
