JOINT COMMUNIQUÉ ISSUED, ON THE 30TH OF SEPTEMBER, 2024 BY THE BUOYE OMUSO BROWN MAJOR HOUSE OF FINIMA AND JUMBO MAJOR HOUSE OF BONNY IN RESPECT OF THE SETTING UP OF THE SHELL PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT COMPANY OF NIGERIA LIMITED (SPDC) HOST COMMUNITIES DEVELOPMENT TRUST (HCDT) FOR ITS BONNY OIL AND GAS TERMINAL AND OPERATIONS IN BONNY.

Rising from a joint meeting between the Buoye Omuso Brown Major House of Finima and Jumbo Major House of Bonny all in the Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers State (together hereinafter referred to as Brown and Jumbo Major Houses) which considered the aftermath of the Stakeholders Forum organized by the Bonny Chiefs Council on the 13th day of September 2024 in Bonny Town, in respect of the setting up and registration of Host Communities Development Trust (HCOT) by The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) for its Bonny OiI & Gas Teminal facility and operations in the Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers State. The Brown and Jumbo Major Houses hereby issue the following communique:

1) That the Brown and Jumbo Major Houses, are jointly the exclusive Landlords and hosts of the SPDC Bonny Oil and Gas Teminal (SPOC BOGT]), and also severally own about ninety percent (90%) of the areas and territories which situate and host the pipelines and allied facilties of the SPDC operations in the Bonny Local Govemment Area of Rivers State, therefore have commanding and overriding stake, interest and say in any engagement discussion and decision in the setting up of and registaton of any Host Communies Develcpmert Trust (HCDT) by the SPDC, in respect of the Bonny Oil and Gas Teminal Land and operations of the SPDC in the Bonny Local Govemment Area, Rvers Sate, pursuant to the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), 2021.

2) That pursuant to a publication made in the Thisday Newspaper of Sunday, April 30, 2023 and a CORRIGENDUM published at page 32 of Thisday Newspaper of Wednesday, May 3, 2023, by the Bonny Chiefs’ Council, wherein the Council advertised the names of persons it had unilaterally picked/chosen as the chairman and members of the Board of Trustees (BOT) and also “Bonny Kingdom Host Communities Development Trust” as name of a proposed Host Communities Development Trust (HCDT), to be set up and registered by The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC), with respect to its Bonny Oil and Gas Terminal (BOGT) and operations in the Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers State, without any reference to, consultations/engagement with, knowledge, participation and or consent of the Brown and Jumbo Major Houses as Landlords, whose communities and territories host and situate the BGOT and about ninety percent (90%) of the facilities and operations of the SPDC in the Bonny Local Government Area. 

3) That upon becoming aware of the said CORRIGENDUM secretly published by the Bonny Chiefs Council on page 32 of the said Thisday Newspaper of Wednesday, May 3rd, 2023 the Brown and Jumbo Major Houses through their Counsels, filed objections to the registration of the said proposed HCDT at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) in Abuja, which consequently stalled and or annulled the secret registration of the said HCDT by the SPDC and the Bonny Chiefs Council. 

4) That sequel to the said objection by the Brown and Jumbo Major Houses, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) as the Regulatory Agency of the Federal Government of Nigeria, responsible for compliance to the Petroleum Industry Act, by its letter titled Re: Objection To The Registration of Bonny Kingdom Host Communities Development Trust, dated August 10, 2023, and Ref: NUPRC/HQ/HSE.5/06/23/029, invited the Jumbo and Brown Major Houses, Bonny Chiefs’ Council, SPDC and the Bristol Alagbariya Major House, to a meeting on Thursday, August, 17, 2023, at 11:00pm prompt, at the NÚPRC HQ Annex, 3rd Floor Conference Room, Utako, Abuja.  

5) That on the said August 17, 2023, the said meeting was held as scheduled, and all the parties invited for the meeting were present, except the Bonny Chiefs’ Council that refused to send its representatives. In the course of the said meeting, the Brown and Jumbo Major Houses jointly demanded that the Board of Trustees (BOT) be made up of nine members to reflect three members apiece to the Brown and Jumbo Major Houses and the Bonny Kingdom. Also, that the name of the proposed Trust be changed to Brown and Jumbo Major Houses and Bonny Kingdom Host Communities Development Trust or Brown, Jumbo and Bonny Host Communities Development Trust. The resolutions reached in the said meeting were as follows:

1. The NUPRC will direct the SPDC to re-conduct the stakeholders’ engagement(s) for the purpose of selecting nominees on the Board of Trustees (B0T) of the Host Communities Development Trust (HCDT), as shall be nominated by the leadership of the stakeholders.
2. The Trust be renamed to better suit the interest and objectives of all stakeholders, also that the renaming process should involve active participation and input from members of the host communities to ensure that the Trust’s name accurately reflects shared values and goals.

6) That following the resolutions of the said meeting of August 17, 2023, held at the NUPRC HQ Annex, 3 Floor Conference Room, Utako, Abuja and the Commission’s directive to the SPDC, which the Commission also communicated to the Brown and Jumbo Major Houses via its letter dated September 18, 2023, Ref: NUPRCIHQIHSE.5/23/049, the SPDC thereafter, via its letter dated 21 August, 2023, Ref: SPDC 2023-08-00000101, titled Invitation To A Meeting, invited the Brown and Jumbo Major Houses and the Bonny Chiefs Council to a meeting at the Hotel Presidential, Port Harcourt, on Wednesday August 23, 2023 at 12:00pm. In the said meeting, the Bonny Chiefs’ Council objected to any discussion on the stalled HCDT registration, and demanded that any meeting for such engagement and discussion be held at the SPDC Bonny Oil and Gas Terminal, hence the meeting ended abruptly. 

7) That by a letter dated Tuesday 10 October, 2023, and titled Invitation To A Meeting, the SPDC invited the Brown and Jumbo Major Houses to a 2-day meeting to be held on Monday, October 16, 2023 and Tuesday, October 17, 2023, at the Restaurant Meeting Hall, Bonny Terminal, Bonny, at 8:00am, where also the Bonny Chiefs’ Council was invited to the said meeting to discuss the issues of the PIA and the HCDT but as usual, the Bonny Chiefs’ Council refused to attend the meeting. The said meeting was held as scheduled, and in the course of the meeting, the Brown and Jumbo Major Houses reiterated their position as follows:

1. The Trust be named as either Brown and Jumbo Major Houses and Bonny Kingdom Host Communities Development Trust or Brown, Jumbo and Bonny Host Communities Development Trust. 
2. That the Board of Trustees (BOT) be made of nine (9) members to reflect three (3) Trustees apiece for the Brown and Jumbo Major Houses and the Bonny Kingdom.
3. That the matrix of the funding of the Trust (HCDT) be allocated as thirty percent (30%) apiece to both the Buoye Omuso Brown Major House and Jumbo Major House, and forty percent (40%) to the Bonny Kingdom, in line with the 22d July, 1958 and 6th December, 2019 Bonny Oil and Gas Terminal Land Lease Agreement between the Brown and Jumbo Major Houses (Landlords/Lessors) and The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (Tenant/Lessee), wherein the Brown and Jumbo Major Houses contributed and or donated forty percent (40%) of the rent payment due and accruable to the both Houses, to the Bonny Kingdom, for the benefit of the entire people of the Kingdom (which included the Brown and Jumbo Major Houses).

8) That by letters dated 19th April, 2024 and titled Invitation For A Stakeholders’ Meeting, the Brown and Jumbo Major Houses were again invited by the SPDC to another meeting to be held on Tuesday April 30, 2024, at 9.00am, at the Restaurant Meeting Hall of its Bonny Oil and Gas Terminal in Bonny Town. The other invitees to the meeting were the NUPRC, Bonny Chiefs’ Council (representing the Bonny Kingdom) and sundry groups/bodies such as the Bonny Titled Citizens Assembly, Bonny Women Group, Bonny Kingdom Development Committee (BKDC) and Bonny Youth Group (Bonny Youths Federation), who are non-stakeholders, and are not necessary/required parties in the meeting. The said meeting was scuttled by the protest and blockade of the gate/entrance of the Bonny Oil and Gas Terminal, in the morning hours of the said Tuesday April 30, 2024, by the Bonny Youths Group (Bonny Youths Federation) which was also invited by the SPDC.  

9) That pursuant to paragraph 8 above, the NUPRC via its letters dated September O02, 2024. Ref. NUPRC/HQ/HSE.5/00/24/142, invited the Brown and Jumbo Major Houses to a meeting on Wednesday September 11, 2024, at 11:00 am, at the NUPRC Regional Office, 7 Moscow Road, Port Harcourt. Also invited were the Bonny Chiefs’ Council and SPDC. On the said 11″ September, 2024, the meeting was held as scheduled, but the Bonny Chiefs’ Council as usual, did not attend the said meeting. The Resolutions reached in the meeting are as follows:

1. That the Board of Trustees (BOT) shall comprise of seven (7) members, of which two (2) members apiece shall be from the Brown and Jumbo Major Houses and three (3) are to be from the Bonny Kingdom.
2. That the Brown and Jumbo Major Houses are to nominate their representatives into the Board of Trustee (BOT) and shall submit the names of the nominees directly to the SPDC.
3. That the matrix for the distribution of the trust fund shall be thirty percent (30%) apiece to the Brown and Jumbo Major Houses and forty percent (40%) to the Bonny Kingdom, in line with the Bonny Oil and Gas Terminal rent sharing ratio as granted by the Brown and Jumbo Major Houses.
4. That the host communities themselves must agree on the name the HCDT Will bear.

1. That on Friday 13h September, 2024, a meeting referred to as “Stakeholders Forum was convened by the Bonny Chiefs’ Council and held at the lbani-Se Hall in Bonny Town. The said meeting which was intended as a counter and obfuscation to the meeting convened by the NUPRC and held at the Commission’s Port Harcourt Zonal Office, Moscow Road on Wednesday, 11th September, 2024, was attended by the Jumbo Major House and the SPDC team led by one Dr. Innocent Nwala. In the course of the meeting, the Jumbo Major House raised its objection and stated as follows:

1. That the Brown and Jumbo Major Houses were the objectors against the said registration and or incorporation of the proposed HCDT, the composition of the membership of the Board of Trustees and the name of the Trust.
2. That the Brown and Jumbo Major Houses as the landlord/lessors of the Bonny Oil and Gas Terminal land and also owning about 90 ninety percent of the areas and territories which situate the other ancillary facilities and operations of the SPDC in the Bonny Local Government Area, are the major stakeholders and host communities that must be consulted and engaged with respect to and discussion and decision for the setting up and registration of any proposed HCDT, for the SPDC operations in Bonny Local Government Area.
3. That the Brown and Jumbo Major Houses were not consulted and did not participate in any engagement, discussion and, decision for the formation, incorporation and registration of the HCDT for the SPDC Bonny Oil and Gas Terminal and operations in the Bonny Local Government Area.
4. The Brown and Jumbo Major Houses did not make any nominations into the Board of Trustees (BOT) and did not contribute to the naming of the proposed HCDT, hence do not have representatives of their choice in the BOT of the proposed Trust.
5. The Brown and Jumbo Major Houses objected to the naming of the proposed HCDT as the “Bonny Kingdom Host Communities Development Trust, rather that the HCDT should either be named the Brown and Jumbo Major Houses and Bonny Kingdom Host Communities Development Trust or Brown, Jumbo and Bonny Host Communities Development Trust, with the second name as the most preferred.  
6. The area known and referred to as the Bonny Kingdom, is the same geographical area known and referred to as the Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers State, Nigeria, wherein situate the said Bonny oil and Gas Terminal Complex of the SPDC, the Cawthome Channel-1 Field, now owned and operated by Eroton Exploration and Production Company Limited (formerly owned by the SPDC) and the Bonny Field owned and operated by the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company Ltd (also formerly owned and operated by the SPDC). 
7. That on the 10th day of September, 2024, Eroton Exploration and Production Company Limited inaugurated the Board of Trustees (BOT), Management Committee and the Host Community Advisory Committee for the already constituted and registered Host Communities Development Trust (HCDT) known as the llomatoru Host Community Trust Fund Management Committee, respecting its operation in the Cawthorne Channel-1 Field, without any command, dictate, interference, disturbance and or input from or the Bonny Chiefs’ Council or the Amanyanabo-in-Council, with respect to the nomination of the Board of Trustees (BOT), naming of the Trust (HCDT) and or the matrix for the distribution of the trust fund. 
8. That the Bonny Oil and Gas Terminal Land and the areas/teritories own by the Brown and Jumbo Major Houses, wherein situate/host the facilities and operations of the SPDC in the Bonny Local Government Area, cannot be the only areas/territory always thought to be and referred to by the Bonny Chiefs’ Council or the Amanyanabo-in-Council, as the Bonny Kingdom.  
9. That the Brown and Jumbo Major Houses, have continually contributed, donated and or granted forty (40) percent of the monetary compensation payments for land acquisition, rental/expired leases and or sundry other benefits received from Companies operating in their areas/territories, to the Bonny Kingdom, for the enjoyment and benefit of the people of the Kingdom, while the other Chieftaincy Houses have continually and consistently refused to do the same.

1. That the Brown and Jumbo Major Houses condemn in totality, the attempt by the SPDC and the Bonny Chiefs’ Council to surreptitiously register the proposed Trust, name and styled as “Bonny Kingdom Host Communities Development Trust’, in respect of the operations of the SPDC in the Bonny Oil and Gas Terminal, without consulting and or engaging with the Brown and Jumbo Major Houses who are the landlords and the host communities.

1. That the “Stakeholders’ Forum” organized by the Bonny Chiefs’ Council, on the 13th day of September, 2024, was an attempt by the Council to overreach and subvert the resolutions of the said meeting of 11h September, 2024, held at the NUPRC Port Harcourt Zonal Office, and the good intention and effort of the Commission in assisting the SPDC to resolving the issues of the objection by the Brown and Jumbo Major Houses, and set up the HCDT for the communities hosting the SPDC-BOGT facilities and operations in the Bonny Local Government Area. 

1. That Brown and Jumbo Major Houses completely object to the deliberations and any resolutions purportedly reached in the said stakeholder’s forum of 13th September, 2024 at lbani-Se Hall, Bonny Town, for not being in consonance/compliance with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), 2021, which guides the setting up of any HCDT by the SPDC for its Bonny operations. 

1. That Brown and Jumbo Major Houses fully and wholeheartedly support the mediation effort of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and totally agree with the outcome and resolutions of the meeting of 11th September, 2024, convoked and moderated by the NUPRC, at its Port Harcourt Zonal Office, in which the Brown and Jumbo Major Houses and the Bonny Kingdom were invited by the Commission, but the Bonny Kingdom as usual refused to attend the meeting. 

1. That Brown and Jumbo Major Houses have resolved that in the alternative, the SPDC should set up a separate HCDT for both Brown and Jumbo Major Houses host communities and a separate HCDT for Bonny Kingdom as appurtenant communities, if and where the Bonny Kingdom is not willing to cooperate with the Brown and Jumbo Major Houses, as the host communities and major stakeholders in the operations of the SPDC in the Bonny Local Government Area. This is to allow for peaceful coexistence and unhindered operations of the two HCDTs pursuant to the operations of the SPDC in the Bonny Local Government Area. 

1. That Brown and Jumbo Major Houses are by this communiqué calling on SPDC to stop the politicking, and work with the NUPRC and in strict compliance with the tenets of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, do the needful to incorporate the HCDT.  

1. That the SPDC has not shown the willingness to frontally address and resolve the misconception of “Host Kingdom” as being distinct and different from Host Communities, as specifically and or intentionally referred to in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), 2021, as the target or stakeholders in the setting up and registration of HCDT, as applicable to the SPDC.  

1. That Brown and Jumbo Major Houses having exhibited restraint and shown understanding, accommodation and the willingness to work with SPDC and NUPRC to set up the HCDT for the benefit of our communities, hereby calling on the Bonny Chiefs’ Council and or the Amanyanabo-in-Council, to show the same restraint and willingness to align with the tenets of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), 2021.