SPDC HCDT: Lessors in 1958 Lease with Shell, Brown House is Jumbo House, Not Jumbo Major House – Traditional Ruler Asserts

The Chief and Head of Dan-Jumbo Chieftaincy House of Bonny Kingdom, Se-Alabo Clinton Ibiwari Gibson Dan-Jumbo, Jene IV has called on the Elders Council of Jumbo Major House (JMH) to refrain from putting forth the House (JMH) as the sole co-lessor with Brown House of Finima in Bonny Kingdom in the 1958 Lease Agreement with Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) for its Bonny Oil and Gas Terminal (BOGT).

Se-Alabo Dan-Jumbo made this call on Sunday, November 3, 2024 via a letter to the Chairman of Jumbo Major House Elders Council, Wari-Alabo Sodienye Jumbo, dated October 30, 2024 titled: RE: JOINT COMMUNIQUE ON SETTING UP OF SPDC HOST COMMUNITIES DEVELOPMENT TRUST FOR BONNY OIL AND GAS TERMINAL OPERATIONS, which was sighted by Kristina Reports.

The letter stated that Jumbo House (comprising Jumbo Major House, Dan-Jumbo House and John Jumbo House) are jointly and severally co-lessors to the land which situates the BOGT and SPDC operations in Bonny Island and thus should be carried along in all matters pertaining the lease agreement.  

The letter is partially reproduced below:  

“RE: JOINT COMMUNIQUE ON SETTING UP OF SPDC HOST COMMUNITIES DEVELOPMENT TRUST FOR BONNY OIL AND GAS TERMINAL OPERATIONS

The attention of the Dan-Jumbo House has been drawn to a publication by Kristina Reports dated 28th October 2024 with the above caption. Evidently, the publication is a communique entered into with the representatives of the Brown House and representatives of the Jumbo Major House, alleging “That the Brown and Jumbo Major Houses are jointly the exclusive Landlords and hosts of the SPDC Bonny Oil and Gas Terminal (SPDC-BOGT), and also severally own about ninety percent (90%) of the areas and territories which situate and host the pipelines and allied facilities of the SPDC operations in the Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers State, therefore have commanding and overriding stake”.

While we do not contend with the claims of the Brown House by virtue of not being stakeholders in the Brown House or even the Finima Community at large, we vehemently condemn your action and dispute your claims of being exclusive Landlord and host of the SPDC-BOGT. Your action is not only divisive, but also capable of creating discontent and disrupting the peace and unity of the Jumbo House in particular and the Bonny Kingdom in general.

It is quite disheartening that barely few weeks after we had robust discussions about the Jumbo House and its challenges, a meeting where you were assured morale as well as financial support in your bid to move the House forward, you chose to act in a way that shows contempt for both the Dan-Jumbo House and the John Jumbo House.

How dare you claim sole ownership of our collective wealth? It is now noticeably clear to us that your action is intentional and deliberate. To think that you will stand on the strength of the 1958 land lease agreement to assert sole ownership of Jumbo House land is laughable when the same document expressly states that the land belongs to the Jumbo House and not the Jumbo Major House. If Jumbo House is made up of John Jumbo, Dan-Jumbo and Jumbo Major House, when did John Jumbo and Dan-Jumbo Houses cede their equity on the land to the Jumbo Major House? Chief, Victor F. Oko Jumbo who signed the 1958 lease agreement, was the Chief of Jumbo Major House at the time, yet he signed the document on behalf of the Jumbo House and not on behalf of the Jumbo Major House.

Let us reiterate, it is common knowledge in Bonny that the 1958 agreement with SPDC was entered into with the Jumbo House and Brown house as parties (Lessors) and not the Jumbo Major House and the Brown House. The sharing formula was also expressly stated in the said agreement as 30% each to the respective parties and 40% to the Bonny Kingdom as consentor. The Dan-Jumbo House was always in receipt of its share of the proceed from this land until the demise of late Chief Gabriel Ogbupara Dan-Jumbo (Former Chief and Head of the Dan-Jumbo House and grandfather to the current Chief), in 1998.

Since then to date, the Dan-Jumbo House has not received a dime and because we were consumed by our own internal wrangling and legal battles we did not bother to ask about our monies. But we continue to gather anecdotally that large sums of money have regularly been paid to the Jumbo House and a few individuals have been sharing these monies, leaving the house in desolation. We have also been informed that lands belonging to the House have been sold by some persons without recourse to the Dan-Jumbo and John Jumbo Houses. Please be informed that we shall demand accountability.

As a result of your action, which we believe is intentional and provocative, we shall be demanding for the immediate payment of all monies accruable to the Dan-Jumbo House. Our demand notice should get to you in a couple of days. Also note that if within seven (7) days of receiving our demand notice the money is not paid to the Dan-Jumbo House, we shall summon you before the Amanyanabo in Council. And should there be need for further action afterwards, we shall commence legal action against you.

Apart from releasing caveat emptor on media spaces, we shall also notify all corporate entities, Government Agencies and Parastatals as well as individuals to stop relating with the Jumbo Major House in isolation on all matters concerning the SPDC-BOGT and the areas and territories which situate and host the pipelines and allied facilities of the SPDC operations in the Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers State. Going forward, every dealing on these assets must be done in conjunction with the Dan-Jumbo and John Jumbo Houses.”

The letter is copied to the Amanyanabo-in-Council of Bonny Kingdom, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) appears to attempt to put in proper perspective the equity stakeholding relating to the lease given the current controversies arising from the setting up of Host Communities Development Trust for the BOGT in Bonny Island.

As at the time of this report, there has been no reaction from the Jumbo Major House Elders Council regarding the issue.