The Kalabari community in Rivers State
has petitioned the House of Representatives over its oil well dispute
with Bayelsa State, accusing President Goodluck Jonathan of allegedly
backing his home state.
In the petition, which was sent to the
Speaker of the House, Mr. Aminu Tambuwal, the petitioners claimed that
the President planned to transfer the disputed oil wells to Bayelsa
State.
The Kalabari Solidarity Forum, which
signed the petition, warned that the Niger Delta could witness a major
inter-tribal war if urgent steps were not taken to address the issue.
Part of the document, which The PUNCH
obtained on Sunday, reads, “We make bold that our President, Dr Goodluck
Jonathan, is very acquainted with the facts of this explosive matter,
but allowed it to fester.
The community urged the Federal Government to expedite action on the inter-state boundary delineation started in 2000.
However, it said it would oppose the implementation of the “12th Edition of the Administrative Map of Nigeria.”
The petitioners added, “At no time did
the boundary between the old Degema qnd the old Brass division become a
contentious issue.
“Only under DSP Alamiesaigha as governor
and the current president who served as his deputy and who directly
supervised the state boundary committee, did this sordid phenomenon
become a matter of grave concern?”.
Findings on on Sunday showed that
Tambuwal had referred the petition to the House Committee on Public
Petitions for investigation.
The committee, which is chaired by a
lawmaker from Abia State, Mr. Uzo Abubuike, will schedule the petition
for hearing and “invite relevant stakeholders to state their sides to
the case.”
Meanwhile, the House has adopted a motion seeking to investigate the alleged production of substandard cement in the country.
The House took the decision in response
to protests by the Coalition of Non-Governmental Organisations, which
had alleged last week that a 32.5 grade of cement was in circulation in
Nigeria.
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