CJF Applauds NASS For Reposing Confidence In Tantita’s Capacity To Protect Nigeria's Oil Pipelines, Raise Oil Production

Members of Concerned Journalists Forum (CJF), Nigeria strongly commend the joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives Committees on Petroleum Resources for subscribing to the rudiments of sound judgement and rare wisdom in addressing brewing factional sentiments that aimed to derate and undermine the operational capacity of Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited (TSSNL) to protect Nigeria’s fragile oil pipeline infrastructure from vandals and oil theft.


CJF further commends the NASS team for their courage in upholding the principle of fairness while reviewing and treating the petitions from dissenting voices across the oil and gas sector, calling for fragmentation of the pipeline surveillance contract being operated by TSSNL. 


CJF notes with delight that the NASS Team maintained untainted sincerity and neutrality in the course of reviewing the petitions and upon a hearing on the petitions, it passed a vote of confidence on TSSNL, an action that summarily doused rising tension around the pipeline surveillance contract and restored social order. 


CJF acknowledges the import of the vote of confidence passed on Tantita by the NASS team and strongly calls on groups and persons hitherto holding dissenting views against Tantita to beat a detour and eschew bickerings to sustain the growing peace and socioeconomic gains across the oil and gas bearing communities in Delta State. 


CJF further calls on the critical stakeholders in the oil and gas sector to cooperate and encourage Tantita to improve on its achievements so far made in protecting the nation’s oil infrastructure and eradicating oil theft and pipeline vandalism in recent months. 


CJF sees the federal lawmakers' endorsement and continued engagement of TSSNL to run the pipeline surveillance contract as an unprecedented move to strengthen public trust in the capacity of Tantita to safeguard the country’s pipeline infrastructure and raise daily production of crude oil from the reported current 1.8m barrels per day to 2m barrels.


CJF calls on all stakeholders in the petroleum industry comprising host communities, civil society organisations, individuals and groups to promote unity and peaceful coexistence in Delta State and across Niger Delta. They should shun bickerings, campaign of calumny and contestations that could cause tension, strain relationships, and diminish mutual trust among themselves.


CJF wishes to advice the management of Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited to stay focused on its operations and continue making progress towards sanitising the Nigerian petroleum sector. 


Finally, CJF calls on the management of Tantita to put behind it, the recent contestation over the pipeline surveillance contract and take decisive steps to strengthen collaboration with other stakeholders to promote inclusivity, accountability, and eliminate rancour. 

CJF looks forward to more incremental achievements by Tantita as it deploys topnutch professional surveillance techniques to improve on its achievements in the coming months and restore public trust in the embattled Nigeria Petroleum Industry. 


E-Signed: 

Comrade Emeka Nwokocha 
Chairman, CJF