Niger Delta determine Asari Dokubo has reignited considered one of Nigeria’s most delicate conversations, alleging that pipeline surveillance preparations tied to the Olu of Warri and businessman Osahon Idahosa are price way over the contract held by former militant chief Government Ekpemupolo, popularly generally known as Tompolo.
In a viral broadcast, Dokubo put the determine at N2.7 trillion yearly, although he initially described it as a month-to-month sum earlier than correcting himself on digicam. That inconsistency has already drawn scrutiny from observers monitoring the declare.
Dokubo made the feedback whereas defending Tompolo, whose contract with Tantita Security Services has confronted persistent public criticism. He questioned why that scrutiny has not prolonged equally to different beneficiaries of pipeline-related preparations.
He additionally named businessman Arthur Eze as a former holder of a pipeline-related contract and claimed to have seen a vessel linked to former Abia State Governor Orji Uzor Kalu working in Niger Delta waters.
None of those claims got here with supporting documentation. Dokubo introduced no contracts, fee data or official paperwork alongside the printed, and said he has no private involvement within the pipeline preparations himself.
Expectedly, the Olu of Warri’s camp responded swiftly. His consultant to NNPC Limited, Prince Collins Edema, dismissed the allegations as fully false and challenged Dokubo to provide concrete proof backing the N2.7 trillion determine.
Independent analysts have raised their very own doubts. Tompolo’s publicised contract has beforehand been valued round N48 billion, a determine vastly smaller than Dokubo’s declare, main some to query whether or not he conflated uncooked oil manufacturing worth with precise safety charges.
Dokubo additionally floated ethnic favouritism as an evidence, suggesting Tompolo faces disproportionate scrutiny due to his Ijaw background whereas Bini and Itsekiri figures escape comparable consideration. But that’s extra hypothesis than reality, some observers shortly level out.
Other observers see tactical positioning fairly than ethnic grievance. In different phrases, it’s attainable that former militant leaders are simply pressuring the Tinubu administration to redistribute pipeline safety contracts amongst a wider pool of beneficiaries.
Leaving apart the drama, some questions do float to the floor, resembling how a lot Nigeria really spends defending its pipelines, who income from that spending, and why personal contractors fairly than state safety forces nonetheless carry the accountability.
