By Vivian Emoni
The Federal Government has assured Nigerians that the establishment of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) was guided by legal instruments and international obligations.
A statement by Mr Saghir el Mohammed, Press Director, Ministry of Environment in Abuja, said that the aim of the project was to address environmental challenges in the country.
According to him, this is in line with government gazette and UN Environment Programme (UNEP) report guiding the establishment of the HYPREP.
“Therefore, the project is appropriately placed under the purview of the ministry.
“We wish to further inform the public that President Muhammadu Buhari has, vide a memo on April 28, 2022 with Ref. No, PRES/81/SGF/82, conveyed this via the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
“The President reiterated the oversight of the ministry over HYPREP and has directed the Environment Minister, Mohammed Abdullahi, to deliver on the Ogoniland cleanup with dispatch,” he said.
While approving the reorganisation of the operations of HYPREP to make it more effective, the President, equally directed for the full audit of the accounts of HYPREP from inception to date.
The ministry therefore, assured all International Oil Companies (IOCs), partners and Ogoni stakeholders of the commitment of the Federal Government to those instruments and obligations.
In this connection, Abdullahi implored stakeholders to remain calm and continue to cooperate with HYPREP as it strived to execute its mandate.
The minister said that the ministry would continue to provide purposeful leadership towards the actualisation of the commitment of Buhari to clean, remediate and restore the polluted environment.
The remediation and restoration would not only be in Ogoni land but the rest of the Niger Delta and beyond. (NAN)
