A non-governmental organisation (NGO) under the auspices of Ogoni Liberation Initiative has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to suspend and review $1billion Ogoni oil spill clean-up project, saying the exercise had failed to yield the expected result since its commencement.

The group also appealed to the federal government to investigate the project which had failed to provide social amenities mostly as it affects construction of boreholes and pipe-borne water in the communities.

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo had in 2017, on behalf of President Muhammadu Buhari, set in motion a $1 billion clean-up and restoration programme of the Ogoniland region in the Niger Delta, announcing that financial and legislative frameworks had been put in place to begin implementing recommendations made by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

The federal government had in June 2019, commenced remediation exercise in 16 sites impacted by oil pollution, across the four local government areas in Ogoniland.

But speaking at a press briefing on the preparation launch of a book, ‘The Issues of Ogoni People, the Crisis and the Solution, Creating Awareness for Public Participation’ in Lagos, President of Ogoni Liberation Initiative, Rev. Fabeke Douglas, lamented that the clean-up project of the communities has no human face as the contractors have failed to provide adequate water supply for the people.

Douglas stressed the need for the Buhari-led government to withdraw, suspend and evaluate the project describing it as mere jamboree.

He also described late President Musa Yar’ Adua’s initiative as the best approach to the people of the kingdom but lamented that “nothing is going on at the moment.”

Douglas said people in the communities could not assess the contractors and have no single information centre on ground for dissemination of information.

“The suspension will be a good one for the communities because nothing is going on. There was supposed to be a central office for the Ogoni land to engage the contractors, but they don’t know the contractors and don’t know if they are professional experts, the kind of equipment they use and that is why we want President Buhari to suspend this exercise and assess what is going on.

“Before this clean-up, there is supposed to be a water project but as we speak there is no drinking water anywhere in our community,” he stated.

He said the contractor supplied drinkable water to the people with tankers at their will, adding that a professional body of experts should be constituted to investigate the failed project.