NUPRC tells operators to fulfil 3% remittance; gives 30 days notice
Written by Tunde Adeyemi on September 2, 2023
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has given a 30day ultimatum to defaulting and recalcitrant settlors of the three percent remittance to oil communities to comply or have their licenses revoked.
The commission’s management in a statement noted that its attention had been drawn to the agitation by host communities in the oil and gas producing areas of the Niger Delta region over the delay by industry settlors and operators in remitting the statutory fees governed by Section 235 of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), 2021.
It expressed understanding and shares in the sentiments and particularly the patience of the host communities on this issue, especially as the PIA had suspended the Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMOU) and the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), replacing both provisions with a new Host Community Development Trust Fund.
Recently, the Commission passed the Host Community Regulation and organized a mass sensitization programme, emphasizing the responsibility of settlors in host communities under the PIA, 2021 but the action has been neglected by those concerned, thereby stoking avoidable agitations.
