By Emmanuel Onyedika
The Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) has urged the Federal Government to allocate at least 60 per cent of Nigeria’s oil blocks and marginal fields to companies owned by Niger Delta people, arguing that oil-producing communities should have greater ownership and benefit more directly from the region’s abundant natural resources.
In a statement signed by its National Spokesman and Publicity Secretary, Chief Dr. Obiuwevbi Ominimini, the group expressed concern over the ongoing 2025 Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) Commercial Bid Conference, describing it as an opportunity for the government to address what it called the longstanding marginalisation of the Niger Delta in the nation’s oil and gas sector.
PANDEF noted that despite contributing the bulk of Nigeria’s oil and gas wealth, communities across the Niger Delta continue to face widespread poverty, environmental degradation and the devastating effects of decades of oil exploration.
The forum questioned claims that Nigeria remains an attractive destination for global oil and gas investment, asking what tangible benefits such investments have delivered to the people of the region.
According to the group, persistent gas flaring and environmental pollution have contaminated rivers and underground water sources, making them unsafe for domestic use in several communities across Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers and Akwa Ibom states.
It stated that communities stretching from Sapele, Warri, Ughelli and Kwale to Oloibiri, Yenagoa, Port Harcourt and Uyo continue to bear the environmental and health consequences of oil exploration, with little or no meaningful remediation.
PANDEF further criticised what it described as the continued exclusion of Niger Deltans from ownership of oil assets, noting that while the region hosts the country’s petroleum resources, most oil blocks remain in the hands of interests outside the Niger Delta.
The group also called for greater transparency in the administration of gas flare penalties, insisting that revenues generated from such fines should be directed towards the development and welfare of host communities affected by oil and gas operations.
Reiterating its long-standing position on resource control, PANDEF maintained that Nigeria’s federal structure should grant federating units greater authority over the natural resources within their territories, while allowing them to remit appropriate taxes and revenues to the Federal Government.
It added that a comprehensive review of past licensing exercises would help restore public confidence in the process and pave the way for a more equitable distribution of oil assets.