Facilitators of the Ogoni Dialogue Committee (ODC) have dismissed allegations of contract allocation, improper handling of Federal Government funds and patronage in employment opportunities secured under the ongoing dialogue between the Ogoni people and the Federal Government.
The Facilitators, in a statement signed by Prof. Don Baridam, Chairman; Archbishop Ignatius Kattey, Co-Chairman; Barrister Jackson Tom Orage, Secretary; and Hon. Joe Poroma, Member, described recent media publications credited to the President of KAGOTE and two others as containing “demonstrably false claims.”
They said they had initially refrained from responding publicly in the interest of preserving unity and the integrity of the dialogue process, but were compelled to clarify the issues following what they described as a sustained media campaign against the ODC and its Facilitators.
According to them, the ODC emerged after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu invited a broad spectrum of Ogoni leaders and stakeholders to consult their people and present their views on the challenges facing Ogoni and its relationship with the Federal Government.
The Facilitators said the President subsequently mandated the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, to steer the process, with the ultimate objective of bringing Ogoni back into mainstream national development and facilitating the resumption of oil production in the area.
They explained that a four-member facilitation team was selected from among the invited Ogoni stakeholders to oversee confidence-building initiatives, lead consultations with Ogonis at home and in the diaspora, and collate common demands for presentation to the Federal Government.
The team said the ODC subsequently consulted communities, traditional institutions, youths, women, professional bodies, civil society organisations, political stakeholders and other interest groups, with the outcome contained in an official report submitted to the Federal Government.
Employment Was Not Allocated By ODC
The Facilitators particularly rejected allegations that the ODC or its members allocated employment opportunities as patronage.
They said the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) had insisted on applying its established professional recruitment standards and selected candidates from its existing database of qualified Ogoni applicants who had previously gone through its recruitment processes.
“While it is true that several members of the ODC submitted names of individuals they wished to be considered—some of whom were not even Ogoni—the fundamental point must be clearly understood: the recruitment and selection process did not pass through the ODC, nor did the ODC determine who was employed,” they said.
They described suggestions that the Facilitators distributed employment opportunities as patronage as “completely false and maliciously intended.”
The Facilitators also stated categorically that the ODC never awarded, allocated or distributed contracts, stressing that contract awards were outside its mandate and that the Committee lacked the authority or machinery to award or influence government or NNPCL contracts.
No ODC Funds From Federal Government
The group further denied allegations that the Federal Government provided the ODC with a budget or undisclosed funds.
They said participation in the process had been undertaken as a sacrifice and a duty of service to the Ogoni people.
They challenged anyone alleging that Federal Government funds were given to the ODC to disclose the amount received, the date of payment, the person or agency that made the payment and the account into which the money was deposited.
No Oil Production Under Re-entry Programme
On reports of renewed oil production activities in Ogoni, the Facilitators said there were, to their knowledge and based on available information, no oil and gas production activities directly linked to the Ogoni re-entry programme.
They added that NNPCL had maintained that it had no knowledge of alleged oil-rig operations in Ogoni, although investigations into claims of oil-rig operations in Alesa-Eleme were ongoing.
Bori State Remains Demand
The Facilitators also reaffirmed the demand for the creation of an Ogoni State, to be known as Bori State.
They said following the Federal Government’s non-rejection of the demand, the ODC established a Tactical Sub-Committee to determine the modalities for achieving state creation alongside other demands.
According to them, the Federal Government had pointed out that creation of a new state required constitutional procedures and that the necessary processes had been set in motion.
Dialogue Enters Harmonisation Stage
The Facilitators disclosed that the Federal Government had formally responded to the ODC report containing the demands of the Ogoni people.
Following consultations with various Ogoni interest groups, a Technical Committee was constituted to undertake a detailed review of the positions of both sides.
The committee, they said, had completed its assignment and submitted its report to the ODC.
The ODC subsequently resolved that a Joint Harmonization Committee comprising representatives of the Federal Government and Ogoni should be established.
The committee is expected to harmonise areas of agreement into an Interim Memorandum of Understanding while negotiations continue on unresolved issues, particularly the creation of Bori State.
The Facilitators said they had also agreed to reconstitute Ogoni’s representation on the Harmonization Committee after concerns were raised about its initial composition.
They explained that the decision was communicated to ODC members on its internal platform and was commended by some members who had subsequently criticised the process publicly.
Facilitators Call for Unity
The Facilitators questioned the motive behind what they described as an escalating “media campaign” against the dialogue process.
They said disagreements could be addressed through existing platforms, including the ODC and direct engagement with the National Security Adviser.
“We do not expect universal agreement on every decision. Criticism is legitimate and necessary, but it must be founded on facts and aimed at improving the process, rather than destroying public confidence through false allegations,” they said.
They warned that scuttling the dialogue could undermine potential benefits for Ogoni, including employment, enterprise and skills-development opportunities that could arise from the proposed Industrial Park, as well as opportunities associated with a responsibly negotiated resumption of oil and gas activities backed by environmental safeguards.
They also cited the proposed Federal University of Environmental Technology in Ogoni, upgraded health facilities and improvements to the East-West Road as areas in which the dialogue process could deliver long-term benefits.
The Facilitators said their records remained open to scrutiny and maintained that they accepted the responsibility to participate in the dialogue out of a desire to secure peace, environmental restoration, shared prosperity and development for Ogoni.
They appealed to Ogoni leaders, traditional institutions, youths, women, professionals and other stakeholders to resist another cycle of internal conflict.
“The Ogoni Dialogue is bigger than the Facilitators, the ODC, KAGOTE, MOSOP, or any single organization or individual,” they said.
They urged all stakeholders to leverage the opportunity presented by the dialogue to secure enduring benefits for the Ogoni people, adding that the Facilitators remained open to constructive engagement with KAGOTE, MOSOP and other genuine Ogoni stakeholders.
