Governor Udom Debunks Rumours Of Pipeline Vandalisation In Akwa-'Ibom

Governor Udom Emmanuel has described the alleged bombing of Nigerian National Petroleum Cooperation's pipeline at Ikot Osute in Oruk Anam Local Government Area of the State as a fictitious imagination of mischief makers.
Governor Udom made the clarification while interacting with Government House correspondents at Ibom International Airport shortly on arrival from Abuja.
He explained that the pipes suffered a defect due to excess pressure which resulted in the bursts and that a team of Engineers from Seven Energy have been drafted to the scene to repair the damaged pipeline.

Governor Emmanuel advised the people of the State to go about their businesses and assured that Government was committed to protecting lives and property of every citizen.

The Governor who commented on the Ninety Billion Naira Budget Support Fund offered by Federal Government to states, said only few states were able to meet the conditions for accessing the fund to support the implementation of their fiscal programmes.

He said the fund which is a loan facility has a one year moratarium with a nine percent interest rate and that Akwa Ibom State is qualified for the facility.

He added that if the state would access the fund it would enable the administration execute some of its earmarked developmental programmes.

When asked to shade light on the current leadership tussle in the Peoples Democratic Party between the Senator Muda Sherif's led group and that of the Caretaker Committee led by Senator Ahmed Markafi, Governor Emmanuel described the tussle as a storm in a tea cup stating that the Party remains an indivisible family.

He however assured that efforts have been put in place by the Board of Trustee and other stakeholders of the Party to settle the differences.

This is coming after it was widely reported that the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), which has claimed responsibility for most attacks on oil installations in the Niger Delta region in a tweet claimed responsibility for blowing up pipeline of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in Akwa Ibom State, yesterday.
The tweet read;
“At 4:00am @NDAvengers blow up NNPC Pipeline in Oruk Anam Local Government Area in Akwa Ibom,”
The claim was quickly refuted by the Police and the Commissioner of Information, Mr. Aniekan Umanah who said “there is no iota of truth in the claims making rounds in the social media,” of NDA’s action.
He said what happened was an eruption occasioned by leakage in the old pipeline of the Nigerian Gas Company (NGC) which traversed the area.