- August 20, 2021
- Posted by: adminer
- Category: Natural Resources, Social Economic
The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has hailed the recent Appeal Court judgment affirming its operatorship of the Oil Mining License 11 (OML 11), describing it as a huge victory for Nigeria.
The Corporation gave the commendation, in a statement signed by its spokesperson, Garba Deen Muhammad, in Abuja, on Friday.
He said the judgment was the beginning of addressing decades of host community restiveness.
The Appeal Court, sitting in Abuja on Monday, upturned the Aug. 23, 2019 ruling of the Federal High Court, Abuja, which held that the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) was entitled to the renewal of the Lease on OML 11.
In the ruling, the Appellate Court held that the Minister of Petroleum Resources had the discretion whether or not to renew the OML 11 Lease in favour of SPDC.
The court further held that the minister rightly exercised his discretion in awarding the OML 11 Lease to the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), a subsidiary of NNPC.
Mohammad quoted the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Malam Mele Kyari, as saying that the ruling had paved the way for the NPDC to lead a formidable OML 11 team towards bolstering productivity in a responsible, efficient, environmentally friendly and sustainable manner.
He said the resumption of operations on OML 11 would demonstrate the NPDC’s full commitment to develop and add value to its communities and the nation as a whole.
“We now have an opportunity to reconstruct a new beginning on OML 11, driven by global best practices and a social contract that would put the people and environment of the Niger Delta above pecuniary considerations.