A civil society organisation, Global Network for Good Governance and Rights Concern Initiative, has called on the Federal Government and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to immediately terminate the multi-billion naira pipeline surveillance contract awarded to Government Ekpemupolo, insisting that the arrangement has outlived its usefulness.
The group, led by its Executive Director, Barrister Dennis Mene, made the call in a statement issued in Warri, Delta State, stating that the continued reliance on a non-state actor to secure critical national assets amounts to a vote of no confidence in Nigeria’s statutory security agencies.
According to the organisation, entrusting the protection of oil pipelines and other strategic national infrastructure to private entities undermines the constitutional responsibilities of the nation’s armed forces and security institutions, particularly the Navy, which are mandated to safeguard the country’s territorial and economic integrity.
The group also expressed concern over the transparency surrounding the pipeline surveillance contract reportedly valued at about ₦48 billion annually, questioning the procurement process and whether the contract was subjected to an open and competitive bidding procedure.
It further alleged that the concentration of such contracts within a particular ethnic group in the Niger Delta has generated resentment among other stakeholders, including the Isoko, Kalabari and Itsekiri communities, who believe they are being marginalised in matters concerning the protection of resources located in their ancestral areas.
The organisation therefore urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to halt any further renewal or extension of the contract with Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited and instead adopt a decentralised, community-based surveillance framework that will involve stakeholders from all oil-producing states through a transparent and competitive process.