We, the undersigned organisations and residents of Nigeria’s oil affected communities, are today staging a peaceful demonstration outside Shell’s offices in Port Harcourt, Rivers State to highlight the devastating human rights and environmental impact of the oil company’s operations in the Niger Delta. We are calling on Shell to own up, pay up, and clean up the Niger Delta.

The Niger Delta Citizens and Budget Platform has concluded plans for local government level budget advocates to carry out advocacy activities on the 2012 budgets of Brass LGA of Bayelsa State and Khana LGA of Rivers State. This plan was revealed at a 2 day community budget training held at Social Action Paralegal centre in Bori, Khana LGA between the 19 and 20 April, 2012.

On the 1st of January 2012 the Federal Government of Nigeria effected an increase in the consumer price of petrol, in what was described as the withdrawal of subsidy. The price of the product was hiked from 65 Naira to 141 Naira, with serious implications for livelihoods of Nigerians who depend on the fuel for transportation and electricity generation. The mass protests that attended the price hike has been described as the largest and most intense in the history of Nigeria, which forced government to partially reinstate subsidies.

But was there really a subsidy on petroleum products? What is the value of this subsidy? Why does the government need to import a product that the country produces? This briefing paper examines how the fuel subsidy regime reflects corruption in the petroleum industry, and the role of the Nigerian political leadership in sustaining the systems of fraud.

Fuels of Dissent is a must read for all interested in understanding the political economy of oil and the Nigerian state.  Click to view report

By Bellonwu Vivian

Doubts have been cast over the effectiveness of the Rivers State Public Procurement Act as passed by the State House of Assembly. The law which gives the State Governor powers to unilaterally spend 30% of the State’s capital budget without any recourse to due process has been described as negating the tenets and principles of democracy.
This assertion was made by the Co-ordinator of The Niger Delta Citizens and Budget Platform NDCBP, ken Henshaw at the public presentation/launch of 2011 Budget Monitoring and Analysis report of five States of the Niger Delta covering Bayelsa, Rivers, Edo, Akwa Ibom and Delta States.

Counting the Votes: Citizens Report on State and Local Government Budgets in the Niger Delta,  2011’ is the fourth  in a series of budget advocacy reports by the Niger Delta Citizens and Budget Platform (NDCBP). The volume presents analysis of the 2011 budgets of the governments of Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo and Rivers States, as well as independent assessment of budget implementation during the year. In the analyses, the income and expenditure preferences of these state governments were examined against their income generation, policy priorities, compliance with fiscal discipline and transparency mechanisms as well as their overall responses to development challenges.  In both the budget analysis and monitoring processes, special emphasis was placed on the education and health sectors. The level of transparency in the budget process, which could be assessed in part by the level of access which citizens have with respect to budget documents, and the opportunities for public participation in the budget making and implementation processes, also informs the conclusions herein presented.
Click to view report