On Wednesday, May 22, the Senate directed its Petroleum Upstream, Downstream, Gas, Niger Delta Affairs, Health, and Environment committees to conduct an investigation into a recent gas pipeline incident in Bayelsa state.
The Senate’s resolution came after it considered and adopted a motion titled “Massive explosion close to Gbarian-Ubie Gas Processing Facility in Yenagoa Local Government Area, Bayelsa State and pollution of the environment: The need for urgent action.”
Senator Benson Friday Konbowei (PDP – Bayelsa Central) sponsored the motion.
Konbowei in his lead debate said the Senate should note that the Gbarain-Ubie Gas Processing facility is one of the most valuable gas projects in Nigeria having cost multiples of billions of US Dollars to build, and processing about two billion standard cubic feet of gas per day.
He said the Red Chamber is aware that the facility supplies gas to the Bonny Terminal for export and is a big source of foreign exchange earnings for the country as well as an important employer of labour.
He said the upper chamber is alarmed that there were huge explosions from a crude oil pipeline on Tuesday the 14th of May, resulting in an inferno in the vicinity of the gas facility, “and this constituted a threat to the safety of the facility, which is a precious national economic asset.”
He said that the explosions caused widespread panic among residents of the community where the explosion occurred.
He said that the Senate should be concerned that the inferno resulted in the “pumping of huge volumes of poisonous gaseous substances into the atmosphere resulting in massive pollution of the environment, with adverse impact on the health of the people within the vicinity.”
He also lamented that the air in the vicinity has been “heavily impregnated with impurities, which can cause difficulty in breathing, damage to the lungs, and high risk for asthma patients.”
He said the Senate should be “worried that the cause of the explosions is unknown, creating an atmosphere of suspense and uncertainty.”
In his contribution, Senator Diket Plang (APC-Plateau Central) supported the motion and called for urgent measures to prevent recurrence and to provide for the health of the people.
On his part, Senator Seriake Dickson (PDP-Bayelsa West) said the instant explosion and pollution were akin to the fate that Niger Delta people have lived with it all these years.
“It is not only Bayelsa but all oil-bearing states in the Niger Delta.
“It is located in a place where people live. It is appropriate that this matter was brought to the notice of the Senate.
“I understand that efforts have been made to control the inferno but the people don’t have anywhere to go.
“In fact, in Bayelsa, the residents don’t know the difference between night and day because of the gas flaring activities of oil exploration companies,” Dickson said.
He further lamented that Shell Nigeria Plc, the operator of the facility has allegedly not paid ground rent for the area where the facility is located.
“It may interest you to know that even in this facility, Shell the operator has not paid any ground rent. We don’t believe that the executive understands the difficulties that our people have been going through all these years,” he said.
In his remarks, Senate President Godswill Akpabio described the explosion and consequent inferno and pollution of the environment as a very worrisome situation.
Akpabio said: “First of all, the facility brings foreign exchange to Nigeria. However, the explosion that occurred on the 14th of May, 2024 caused panic as the gasses being spewed out of the pipeline and the attendant pollution can cause or aggravate asthmatic conditions.
“The good news is that the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration is a corrective regime. We will bring this incident to the attention of the President and we believe the government will take necessary steps to ameliorate the situation and the relevant government agencies will put in place appropriate measures to prevent future occurrence.”