Exposed:Bayelsa’s Gas, Tinubu’s Oando: How Diri’s 60MW Power Plant Left A Sole Supplier In Control — And The Questions Bayelsans Are Asking
By Passman Akpos
Bayelsa State is one of Nigeria’s major oil and gas-producing territories, yet a troubling contradiction is now sitting at the centre of Governor Douye Diri’s 60MW Independent Power Plant: Bayelsa has enormous natural gas resources, but the state government must purchase the gas required to operate a power plant built to provide electricity to Bayelsans. More strikingly, Oando PLC has publicly announced that its NEPL/Oando Joint Venture is the sole gas supplier to the project, with a contracted supply of approximately 11.2 million standard cubic feet of gas per day delivered through the company’s Elebele Valve Station and connected gas infrastructure. The revelation raises legitimate questions about the economics of the project, the procurement process, the price Bayelsa is paying for the gas and whether indigenous companies in the state were given a meaningful opportunity to participate.
The controversy becomes even more sensitive because Wale Tinubu, the Group Chief Executive of Oando, is publicly identified as President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s nephew, while President Tinubu himself commissioned the Bayelsa 60MW power project in April 2026. None of these facts, standing alone, proves that the gas contract was influenced by the President or that Governor Diri acted improperly. But when a company whose chief executive has a documented family relationship with the President becomes the sole gas supplier to a major state government power project, the public interest demands greater transparency, not less. Bayelsans deserve to know when the agreement was negotiated, how Oando was selected, whether competing suppliers were considered, what price was agreed, how long the contract will run and precisely how much public money will flow to the gas supplier over the lifetime of the arrangement.
The issue becomes even more important because Governor Diri’s administration had already acknowledged that the state would have to procure and pay for the gas required to operate the turbines. In October 2025, the governor explained that the electricity generated by the plant would not be free and that the state would need to obtain the gas required for the turbines. This means the celebrated power project is not simply a case of Bayelsa using its own natural resources to generate electricity at no fuel cost; there is a continuing commercial chain involving gas production, processing, transportation, power generation and electricity distribution. The crucial public-interest question is therefore not merely whether the turbine works, but who captures the economic value at every stage of that chain and how much value ultimately remains in Bayelsa.
And this is where the Niger Delta’s longstanding resource question returns with full force. For decades, communities across the region have watched oil and gas extracted from their environment while complaining about inadequate electricity, poor roads, unemployment, environmental degradation and limited local participation in the higher-value segments of the petroleum industry. Bayelsa’s 60MW project therefore presents an opportunity to ask whether the state is building a genuinely local gas-to-power economy or merely becoming a customer in a commercial chain controlled by larger external operators. If indigenous Bayelsa companies possess the technical and commercial capacity to participate, were they invited? If they lacked the capacity to meet the project’s requirements, what specific technical deficiencies prevented them? And if the government conducted a competitive process, why not publish the bids, evaluation criteria and final commercial terms so Bayelsans can independently judge the economics of the deal?
The questions become even more compelling when previous reports about the project’s gas infrastructure are placed beside Oando’s later disclosure. In 2025, Bayelsa Electricity Company officials were reported to have said that the turbine would obtain gas through an Oando-Agip manifold, while Oando’s subsequent corporate announcement formally described the NEPL/Oando JV as the sole gas supplier and identified the Elebele Valve Station and pipeline connection serving the plant. That evolution deserves documentary scrutiny. When was the gas supply agreement signed? Who negotiated it? Was there a tender? How many companies were considered? What was the winning price? What is the transportation charge? What is the minimum quantity Bayelsa must pay for whether or not it consumes it? And what happens financially if gas supply is interrupted? These are precisely the questions that should be answered before taxpayers are asked to accept the arrangement as an unquestionable success
The Wale Tinubu–Bola Tinubu relationship also deserves to be reported accurately rather than sensationalised. Wale Tinubu is the GCEO of Oando, while public reporting identifies him as President Bola Tinubu’s nephew; the State House has also publicly referred to Wale as the President’s “brother” in a birthday message. That family relationship does not establish ownership of Oando by the President, nor does it prove an improper contract. Oando is a publicly listed company with multiple shareholders. But transparency is particularly important whenever a politically prominent family relationship intersects with a major public-sector commercial arrangement. The proper response is not to declare guilt without evidence; it is to demand the documents that can establish whether the transaction was competitively priced, properly procured and economically beneficial to Bayelsa.
For Bayelsans, the most painful part of this debate is not the identity of the supplier alone. It is the possibility that a state blessed with natural gas could remain economically dependent on external companies for the fuel required to power its own electricity project, while local businesses struggle to gain access to the same value chain. A gas-rich Bayelsa should be asking how to transform its resources into jobs, industries, local companies, cheaper electricity and sustainable public revenue. If the state’s indigenous companies cannot currently provide the required 11.2MMSCFD, then the government should explain what it is doing to build the capacity that would allow Bayelsa companies to compete in the future rather than remaining permanently dependent on outside operators.
The political dimension should also be examined through evidence rather than assumption. There has been visible political support for President Bola Tinubu from prominent figures in the Niger Delta, including Governor Diri and other influential regional actors, but political support by itself does not demonstrate that the Oando gas agreement was exchanged for political loyalty or that anyone received an improper benefit. What can legitimately be investigated is whether public procurement decisions, government contracts and political relationships are sufficiently transparent. If there was a competitive procurement process, publish it. If Oando offered the best commercial terms, show the comparison. If indigenous Bayelsa companies were technically incapable, publish the technical reasons. If there was no competitive process, explain why.
This is ultimately bigger than Governor Diri, Oando or President Tinubu. It is about whether the Niger Delta’s old pattern of resource extraction is being reproduced under a new electricity model. Bayelsans should not merely celebrate the turbines turning; they should understand the economics behind every cubic foot of gas entering the plant and every naira leaving the state treasury. Who supplies the gas? Where does the gas originate? Who owns the infrastructure? How much does Bayelsa pay? Who receives the money? How much does the state earn from the electricity? How many Bayelsa companies participate? How many jobs are created locally? And what percentage of the total economic value remains in Bayelsa?
Until those questions are answered with contracts, invoices, procurement records and audited figures, the 60MW project remains only partly explained. The people of Bayelsa deserve more than commissioning ceremonies, political speeches and promises of development. They deserve to see the gas supply agreement, the price, the procurement process, the transportation arrangements and the financial model behind the project. If the deal is clean and beneficial, disclosure will strengthen it. If there are weaknesses, disclosure will expose them. Either way, transparency serves Bayelsa.
The question Tarakirivoice is putting before Governor Douye Diri is simple: Bayelsa is supplying the land, bearing the infrastructure cost and paying for the gas — so show Bayelsans exactly who is making money from the gas-to-power chain and why.
