By Ononye VC
The Federal Executive Council on Wednesday, in Abuja, approved the sum of ₦129.8bn for various projects in the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, particularly the mandate of the United Nations Environment Programme on Ogoni Cleanup.
The senior special assistant to the president on media and publicity, Garba Shehu, disclosed this to journalists after the council’s over seven-hour meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the State House, Abuja.
He said the money would cater for the second phase of the Ogoni water project and the central remediation of newly identified hydrocarbon-impacted sites.
In August 2011, the United Nations Environment Programme released its environmental assessment of Ogoniland.
The report, which was delivered to the Goodluck Jonathan administration, made recommendations to the then government, the oil and gas industry and communities to begin a comprehensive cleanup of Ogoniland, restore polluted locations and end all forms of ongoing oil contamination in the region.
