The Office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation (OSGOF) on Tuesday convened a high-level meeting involving key federal agencies and stakeholders to address an ongoing dispute between Sterling Oil Exploration and Energy Production Company Limited and the Rumuewhor Community in Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State.
The meeting, held at the OSGOF headquarters in Abuja, brought together representatives of the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF), the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Sterling Oil, and members of the affected community.
According to the Surveyor-General of the Federation, Abduganiyu Adeyemi Adebomehin, the meeting followed a directive from the Federal Government after receiving a petition from the Rumuewhor community alleging neglect and environmental damage caused by the oil company.
Adebomehin said the engagement was in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s renewed commitment to ensuring peace and fairness between oil companies and their host communities.
“All correspondences and letters will be compiled and forwarded to our legal unit, which will in turn send them to ONSA,” Adebomehin stated. “Once all the facts are established, ONSA will be able to ask the necessary questions and determine the next steps. Our role here is purely fact-finding.”
Also speaking, Mrs. Ademola Abiola, Assistant Legal Adviser in the OSGF, emphasized that the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) outlines specific responsibilities for oil companies and mandates government oversight through the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
In his submission, the Director of Energy Security at ONSA underscored the need for comprehensive information to enable a thorough investigation. “We need to know who signed for what and how operations began,” he said.
“The NUPRC must clarify issues surrounding the community development fund and any internal divisions in the community. Once we have complete information, ONSA will carry out its investigation to determine whether the community’s rights have been violated.”
