Ibekimi Oriamaja Reports
The pipeline monitoring contract, according to the federal government of Nigeria, was not given directly to Government Ekpemupolo, also known as Tompolo, a former insurgent leader in the Niger Delta.
The contract was awarded to corporate companies, according to Mele Kyari, group chief executive officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), who made this information public on Tuesday.
But he said that Tompolo had ties to the business that received the deal.
According to Track News, the news that Tompolo had been given the contract for pipeline surveillance by the Nigerian government, led by President Muhammadu Buhari, provoked outrage throughout the nation.
But during a press conference at the state house on Tuesday, Kyari noted that the contract was awarded to a company and that this was not the first time the government had done so. He also noted that the action was in the best interests of the populace.
The head of NNPC emphasized that while the local people must be involved in protecting such important national assets, the security forces must also play a part.
He thinks the administration made the right decision, and the outcome will support the action.
“We carried out three actions. Our Navy and Army are doing a great job of confining this, but as you do this, nourishment is everything, so we also decided that we need private contractors to man the right of way and also operate beyond the right of way so that they can also join us to handle members of the community.
We don’t have access to it, so we set up a system where contractors were chosen via a bidding process for people who could handle it; not everyone could, and as Tompolo just indicated, we’re dealing with corporate entities.
“We’re not interacting with Tompolo, but he might have interests in the company, and we are aware of such interests. We are aware that we are involving everyone else who can be of assistance to us in this circumstance. We believe that we are making the proper choice because this has happened numerous times over the years and always ended with it being contained by a process like this.
