CSOs Urge NUPRC to Withdraw Shell’s License
Want WB, AfDB, and Export Credit Agencies to discontinue financing fossil fuel projects
ABUJA, NIGERIA. May 18, 2023… Civil Society Organisations working under the aegis of the People’s Annual General Meeting (PAGM), a shadow Annual meeting to that of oil majors, have called on President Muhammadu Buhari and the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC Ltd, to as a matter of urgency, withdraw the operating License of Shell over its complicity in the environmental and ecological injustices ranging from divestment from on-shore to off-shore leaving behind the problems it created in the Niger Delta, weakened climate change commitment for short-term profit, and its poor human rights record in Nigeria.
In a ten-point resolution issued after the People’s Annual General Meeting held in Abuja yesterday and signed by the trio of the Convener and Executive Director, Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ), the Rev. David Ugolor, Co-Chair and Executive Director, Indigenous Centre for Energy and Sustainable Development, ICE-SD, Legborsi Saro Pyagbara, and Co-Chair/National Coordinator, Publish What You Pay, Nigeria Campaign, Taiwo Otitolaye, the group also called on international financial institutions including the World Bank, African Development Bank, and Export Credit Agencies to discontinue financing fossil fuel projects in Nigeria.
The People’s shadow AGM which was held ahead of Shell, ExxonMobile and Total Energies AGMs scheduled for next week, frowned at SHELL’s current weak energy transition strategy, and welcomed the recent Church of England Pensions Board’s announcement to vote against Shell’s Chair and Directors, and the transition plan during the company’s 2023 AGM.
On the on-going Clean-up of Ogoni land, they called on the Federal Government to appoint a substantive chairman for the Governing Council of HYPREP to ensure consistency in its leadership.“ The Government, companies and other stakeholders should contribute to the remediation process by supporting the development and adoption of new technologies that can accelerate the Ogoni cleanup. We also call on HYPREP to embark on a full-scale livelihood restoration programme for the Ogoni people,” the group demanded.
They also called for an unbiased investigation into the remediation process in Ogoni land as well environmental and health audits of the entire Niger Delta, urging a total cleanup of the Niger Delta region.
The resolution further reads in part, “The Norwegian Pension Fund and other investors should follow the example of The Church of England which has made a commitment to vote against Shell’s Chair and Directors, and the transition plan during the upcoming company’s 2023 AGM.”
While calling on the Federal government, particularly the incoming administration to demonstrate the political will to end gas flaring in Nigeria, the group noted that the Energy Transition Plan of oil companies should be in compliance with Paris Agreement on climate change and Climate Change Act, reflecting the perspectives of communities affected by decades of fossil fuel extraction.
The People’s AGM also resolved to conduct further research on the activities of oil companies operating in Kogi, Nasarawa, Gombe, and other parts of Nigeria, to promote learning and experience sharing between Niger Delta communities and other parts of Nigeria even as they vowed to undertake high-level advocacy to engage the investors and government currently supporting SHELL, Total Energies, Exxon Mobil and other oil companies in Nigeria.
They demanded that Oil companies including SHELL, Exxon Mobil and Chevron should take responsibility for loss and damage in the Niger Delta as recommended by COP27.
Other Leading Civil Society activists present at this year’s People’s AGM include: Barrister Chima Williams, Executive Director, Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth, Nigeria, Mr. Kentebe Ebieridor, Oil Watch International, Celestine Akpobobari, Ogoni Solidarity Forum, Mr. Samuelson Jude, Stakeholders Democracy Network, Mr. Muhammed Attah, Procurement Alert, and Mallam Bashama Yusuf, Dandalin Matasa Initiative for Rapid Development.
Other Civil Society Leaders at the AGM include: Mr. Edem Edem, Green Concern for Development, and Ms. Inyingi Irimagha, Gender and Development Action, (GADA).
This year’s People’s AGM which is the second in the series had in attendance Sixty-seven participants from across Nigeria including the Niger Delta region and other emerging oil States in Northern Nigeria. Participants at the well-attended People’s AGM included representatives of Host Oil Communities, Faith Based Organisations, Human Rights Groups, Climate justice activists, women and youth groups, indigenous people’s groups, and environmental groups. The event continues tomorrow with demonstrations against the activities of oil majors in the country.
Click to see the 2nd Peoples AGM Resolution
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