President Muhammadu Buahri has given approval for the cleaning up of Ogoni land polluted with oil spillage.
The presidential directive followed the report of the United Nations Environmental Programme, UNEP, on the environmental restoration of Ogoniland.
President Buhari also approved the composition of the Governing Council and Board of Trustees of Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project, HYPREP, which were majorly facilitated by the recommendations of the Executive Director of UNEP, the UNEP Special Representative for Ogoniland, Permanent Secretaries of the Federal Ministries of Environment and Petroleum Resources, and other stakeholders, including the amendment of the Official Gazette establishing the HYPREP to reflect a new governance framework on the project.
Members of the governing council and their representatives will include Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Federal Ministry of Environment, impacted states-Rivers, oil companies and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Ogoniland, United Nations System, while the Secretariat is to be headed by a Project Manager.
Similarly, the new board of Trustees for the HYPREP Trust Fund will have representatives from the Federal Government, NNPC, International Oil Companies, Ogoniland and the United Nations System.
