A non-governmental organisation, Mineral Resources Awareness Initiative of Akwa Ibom, has asked oil companies operating in Akwa Ibom State and the territorial waters contiguous to it, to relocate their headquarters to the state.
The group said if the companies failed to comply with the request within three month, it would not hesitate to employ all legal measures to compel them to do so.
At a press conference in Lagos on Tuesday, Chairman, MRAIA, Mr. Victor Akpan, said the development whereby oil companies operate in the state and leave their head offices and head offices staff in Lagos State was unfair.
Akpan said, “We wish to emphasize here that our feelings are the true reflections of the minds of the people of Akwa Ibom State. We are not happy with the ugly situation where oil firms continue to remain adamant to several calls for relocation of their administrative headquarters to Akwa Ibom.
“It will be recalled that the late Sani Abacha administration had directed all the oil companies operating in the country to relocate their administrative head offices to their areas of operations.
“The directive was adhered to by Shell Petroleum Development Company.
SPDC has since relocated to Rivers State many years ago. One wonders why other oil companies have not taken a cue from the SPDC.”
He condemned the operational strategies of those oil firms that have refused to comply with the request. This is depriving AKS of various sources of revenue such as PAYE tax, VAT from the expenditure of the top heavy staff of the oil companies operating from Lagos. Even the multiplier effect of the headquarters being located there in the form of low level jobs such as drivers, cleaners, gardeners etc that will be servicing over 2000 top heavy staff of these oil companies.
Akpan therefore urged the affected companies to be good corporate citizens by thinking of their corporate social responsibility to their areas of exploration and relocate their headquarters to the state.
See original article:
Relocate headquarters to A’Ibom, group tells oil companies