• Warns against scrapping ‘strategic national instrument’ protecting oil revenue
Sunday Aborisade in Abuja
Legal practitioner and security expert, Mr. Blessing Agbomhere, has urged President Bola Tinubu to sustain the Niger Delta petroleum pipeline surveillance contract coordinated by Government Ekpemupolo, warning that terminating the arrangement could reverse gains recorded in crude oil production and national revenue recovery.
In a public communication addressed to the President, the National Security Adviser and the leadership of the National Assembly, Agbomhere described the surveillance framework operated by Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited and other indigenous firms as “a strategic national instrument” critical to Nigeria’s economic stability and security architecture.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) Chieftain in the South-South geopolitical zone, said Nigeria’s oil sector had faced an unprecedented crisis in recent years, as organised crude theft and large-scale pipeline vandalism slashed production below the country’s OPEC quota, leading to billions of dollars in lost revenue and mounting fiscal pressures.
According to him, conventional security deployments struggled to contain criminal networks operating across the creeks and offshore installations of the Niger Delta, worsening investor confidence and macroeconomic instability.
Agbomhere, however, credited the community-based surveillance model anchored on local intelligence and grassroots participation as a turning point.
Under Ekpemupolo’s coordination, he said, the initiative dismantled illegal tapping points, destroyed clandestine refining camps and disrupted illicit crude transport networks, leading to improved stability across major trunk lines.
He maintained that oil output has since recorded measurable increases, boosting inflows into the Federation Account and strengthening fiscal predictability.
Beyond revenue recovery, he argued that integrating local actors into a lawful security framework has reduced incentives for sabotage, fostered youth engagement and enhanced intelligence collaboration between host communities and federal authorities.
“The surveillance contract has functioned not merely as a protective shield for pipelines but as a stabilising mechanism for regional peace,” he stated.
Agbomhere also cautioned against recent calls for the cancellation of the contract, suggesting that opposition to the deal should be scrutinised to ensure it is not driven by interests threatened by intensified anti-theft operations.
He warned that abrupt termination could create an intelligence vacuum, embolden bunkering syndicates and jeopardise national revenue at a fragile economic period.
While acknowledging the need for transparency and legislative oversight, he stressed that reforms must not undermine a framework he described as effective and lawful.
He urged the President and federal lawmakers to prioritise empirical evidence, safeguard oil revenue and consolidate security gains in the South-South region rather than risk a relapse into instability.
