It also urged President Muhammadu Buhari to stop funding the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) till the ongoing audit of the project is completed.
The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) says state corruption has destroyed the Ogoni cleanup programme, describing the programme as a certified fraud.
The group accused the Nigerian government of sabotaging the country's economy by failing to cooperate with MOSOP's efforts to resolve the Ogoni conflicts in over three decades.
It also urged President Muhammadu Buhari to stop funding the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) till the ongoing audit of the project is completed.
MOSOP President, Fegalo Nsuke in a statement issued on Tuesday, through the Secretary-General, Alex Akori, which was made available to SaharaReporters, said the government's alleged careless attitude towards the proposals of MOSOP to discuss and resolve the Ogoni oil conflicts amounts to economic sabotage.
Nsuke warned President Buhari’s administration not to make the same mistakes allegedly made by the late military dictator, General Sani Abacha who reportedly thought the use of brute force would stop people from demanding their basic rights.
He alleged that oil industry cartels connived with the Nigerian security and intelligence network to mislead Abacha into thinking that killing activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa would end the Ogoni agitation.
The group, however, noted that the resilience of the people cannot be destroyed.
Nsuke said MOSOP has at different times initiated moves to resolve the problem which is now documented in its proposal for the operation of an Ogoni Development Authority (ODA), urging the government to take advantage of the opportunity.
He further noted that the longer the delay in discussing MOSOP's proposals to address the problem, the more the Nigerian economy would suffer due to the huge revenue losses occasioned by the conflicts which forced Shell out of Ogoni land in 1993.
"MOSOP has shown its readiness to make the necessary compromises required to achieve some common grounds that will help resolve the Ogoni problem by proposing the operation of an Ogoni development authority.
“The Nigerian government needs to complement our efforts by accepting our proposed talks so we can move forward.
"The longer it takes to resolve this problem, the more the Nigerian economy and the Ogoni people suffer.
“We expect the government to show its commitment to the welfare of the people by accepting talks on our proposals to facilitate a resolution of this protracted problem," he said
The MOSOP president assured the Ogoni people that the operation of an ODA will benefit the Ogoni people and fulfil their desires for development and economic security. He further said the ODA will also be beneficial to the government and the Nigerian people.
The Central Committee of MOSOP on September 28, 2020, approved the operation of an Ogoni Development Authority as an acceptable framework for the resolution of all lingering problems in Ogoni.
On the Ogoni cleanup, the MOSOP president said the programme was a certified fraud which had been destroyed by endemic state corruption.
He welcomed the directive by the President for an audit of HYPREP and urged him to halt further funding of HYPREP until the ongoing audit is completed and the organisation's operations are reorganised to give room for transparency.
Nsuke said it was unfortunate that the Ogoni people have lost confidence in the Ogoni cleanup exercise which they laboured hard for. He said it is regrettable that the corruption in HYPREP dashed the hopes the people had in the cleanup programme.