Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri, has again urged the federal government to review the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) to resolve conflicts in the Niger Delta oil-producing communities arising from implementation of the legislation.

Diri made the demand yesterday during the triple celebrations of book launch, 60th birthday, and 25th marriage anniversary of the Chairman of the state traditional rulers council, King Bubaraye Dakolo, in Yenagoa.

The governor was reacting to a comment by the Minister of State for Petroleum (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, who said that litigations in host communities had made it impossible for them to access monies in the Petroleum Industry Trust Fund meant for their development.

Diri noted that when the PIA was a bill during the former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, the state presented its position that excluding the oil-producing states and local councils from the administration of host communities’ funds, as provided in the then bill, would result in a crisis.

According to him, “the PIA, as it was designed, is a time bomb because the federal government cut off states and local government councils to deal directly with communities. It is my submission that the percentage due to oil companies, conspiratorially reduced from 10 per cent to three per cent, should be reviewed.

“I also call on the federal government to immediately review the aspect where states and local governments were excluded from administering what is due to the communities. The states and councils are closer to the communities, and it was wrong to have them excluded from the administration of these communities. The current situation is a recipe for a crisis, and I urge President Bola Tinubu to review it.”

While congratulating Dakolo, who is the Ibenanaowei of Ekpetiama Kingdom, on the launch of his books, “The Pirates of the Gulf” and “The Kingfisher,” Senator Diri described the monarch as a rare king and urged the younger generation to see him as a role model.

He also described Dakolo as a literary giant who took up the challenge after his ordeal at the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) to fight injustice in the Niger Delta, emphasising that he has made a positive impact on the Ijaw nation and the country as a whole.

Diri, who launched the books with the sum of N100 million on behalf of the state government, directed the Ministry of Education to adopt The Kingfisher as part of the state’s secondary school curriculum.

“King Dakolo has served the Bayelsa and Ijaw nation. Dakolo and l had been together in the Ijaw struggle. He is sound and very intelligent. He is a literary giant and l urge our youths of the Ijaw nation to see him as their role model.”

In his remarks, Lokpobiri, who was the chairman at the event, congratulated Dakolo on his achievements, describing him as a man of many parts and a visionary leader.

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