I look forward to this new ADC alliance holding its first ever party conference. When they do, one of the first motions I expect them to pass is an agreement to place a moratorium on crude oil exploration

Ayo Akinfe

[1] As recently as 2019, President Muhammadu Buhari signed the Deep Offshore Act into law, increasing our dependence on crude oil revenue. Everywhere on planet earth, nations are moving away from fossil fuels

[2] Can someone please explain to me why before this bill was signed in 2019, our National Assembly did not debate imposing a moratorium on oil prospecting and drilling across Nigeria

[3] Are Nigerians aware of the fact that the US has banned the drilling for oil in Alaska? It is illegal to prospect or drill for oil and gas in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

[4] In 2018, New Zealand announced plans to ban the award of new oil and gas exploration licences in an effort to combat climate change and promote the development of green energy sources

[5] In September 2017, the French Parliament announced plans to introduce legislation to phase out all oil and gas production by 2040, coinciding with the country’s scheduled ban on the sale of gasoline and diesel vehicles

[6] In 2018, Denmark’s energy, utilities and climate minister Lars Christian Lilleholt announced that his government would be ceasing to grant permits for the exploration and drilling of oil, natural gas and shale gas following more than 80 years of activity

[7] Belize’s legislature unanimously approved a bill to ban all future offshore developments within the country’s territories in December 2017

[8] In July 2014, Costa Rica’s President Luis Guillermo Solís extended the country’s ban on petroleum exploration and extraction. He also issued new guidelines for energy efficiency across governmental agencies.

[9] In February 2018, Ireland’s lower house of parliament, the Dáil Éireann, voted to support legislation to stop the Irish government from providing new contracts for on-shore and offshore oil and gas exploration activities

[10] We simply do not know what we are doing in Nigeria. The more dependent we are on oil, the less likely we are to industrialise. Crude oil is a huge disincentive to economic diversification, industrialisation, the fiscal self-reliance of our federating units and general prosperity. I am hereby challenging the ADC alliance to match in tune with the rest of the world and pledge to introduce a moratorium on crude oil prospecting and extraction

ayoakinfe@gmail.com