The Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) has applauded President Goodluck Jonathan for the relocation of the Egina Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel to Agge in Bayelsa State.
The $500 million project had earlier been slated for LADOL fabrication yard in Lagos.
But Jonathan on May 15, directed that the oil and gas investment project be relocated from LADOL Free Trade Zone (FTZ) in Lagos to Agga in Bayelsa.
The directive also instructed industry operators to move oil and gas cargoes to only ports in Warri, Calabar and Onne nearer to where the projects were to be sited.
A statement in Yenagoa on Sunday by Mr Eric Omare, IYC spokesman, said the directive made economic sense and was in tandem with the Nigerian Content Act, 2010.
“The IYC and indeed the Niger Delta people back the directive of President Jonathan to move the fabrication of oil and gas materials to the Niger Delta where the eventual job is to be done.
“This is not only in line with the requirement of the local content law but it also makes so much economic sense.
“It is common knowledge that Lagos is highly congested and there is need to move some class of cargoes, especially oil and gas materials, to ports within the Niger Delta region where the oil facilities are located.
“We consider the opposition to the Presidential directive and the attendant media propaganda as an insult on Niger Delta people,” Omare stated.
Omare also noted that all the oil companies operating in the Niger Delta region had their head offices in Lagos to the detriment of the Niger Delta economy, even when existing laws stipulated they should be domiciled in the Niger Delta.
