Community demands opportunities for indigenous contractors, equipment owners and 32 trained Itsekiri oil and gas workers
WARRI, Nigeria — The Omadino Community in Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State has petitioned President Bola Tinubu over what it described as the continued exclusion of its indigenes, indigenous contractors and equipment owners from employment and contracting opportunities linked to Chevron Nigeria Limited’s oil and gas operations.
In a petition dated September 23, 2026, the community alleged that qualified people and businesses from Omadino were being denied opportunities despite the community hosting oil and gas assets and supporting the operations of multinational companies in the area.
The petition, signed on behalf of the community leadership, called on the Federal Government to investigate the allegations and ensure that qualified indigenous businesses and workers are given fair consideration in opportunities arising from oil and gas activities in the area.
The community particularly raised concerns over offshore operations and contracts involving specialised marine equipment, including Self-Elevating Work-Over Platforms, known as SEWOPs, and Jack-Up Barges.
Chairman of the Omadino Community Management Committee, Tuoyo Mogbeyiteren, said the community has people and businesses with marine equipment and other facilities capable of providing services required by the oil and gas industry.
“Even our people who have marine equipment, and other facilities required for oil and gas services, are not being given contracts. How can a host community like Omadino continue to be treated this unfairly?”
The community also called for opportunities for 32 trained Itsekiri oil and gas workers known as VTP OGERE, whom it said have supported Chevron’s operations for more than 12 years.
According to the petition, the affected workers have accumulated industry experience and training but are still seeking meaningful opportunities within the operations they say they have supported over the years.
The latest petition is not the first time Omadino has raised concerns about Chevron’s employment and contracting arrangements.
In October 2024, the community similarly petitioned President Tinubu over what it described as an employment policy that disadvantaged Itsekiri host communities, particularly Omadino. The community said at the time that it had written several letters to Chevron without receiving what it considered an adequate response.
The 2024 petition stated that six oil fields constituted Chevron’s operational onshore leases and alleged that two of them — Uton Nana and Makaraba — were hosted by Omadino. The community consequently claimed that it hosted approximately 40 per cent of Chevron’s onshore operations. That figure is a claim made by the community and has not been independently established in the reports reviewed.
Omadino has also previously complained about broader economic and development concerns associated with oil and gas activities in the community. In 2023, community leaders told journalists that Omadino hosted facilities and operations involving several oil companies but remained insufficiently developed relative to the scale of oil and gas activities in the area.
The dispute comes against the background of Nigeria’s local-content framework, which provides for greater participation of Nigerian companies, workers and resources in the oil and gas industry.
The Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act requires operators and other industry participants to consider Nigerian content in project development and execution. The law also provides for first consideration for Nigerian independent operators in certain areas and exclusive consideration for qualifying Nigerian indigenous service companies that demonstrate the required equipment, personnel and capacity for specified operations.
The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, NCDMB, says its mandate includes developing the local supply chain and implementing and enforcing the Nigerian Content Act. Its framework also identifies the integration of oil and gas-producing communities into the industry’s value chain as one of the objectives of Nigerian content development.
The Petroleum Industry Act has also established the Host Communities Development Trust framework for communities affected by upstream petroleum operations. The NUPRC’s Host Communities Development Regulations provide a framework covering host-community determination, trust administration, development plans and distribution of funds.
However, the existence of these legal and regulatory frameworks does not automatically mean that every host-community resident or indigenous company is entitled to a particular job or contract. Eligibility, technical capacity, procurement requirements and applicable regulatory procedures remain relevant to contract awards.
Omadino is also located within an area that has attracted major infrastructure plans involving government agencies and Chevron.
The Niger Delta Development Commission has been working with Chevron on the proposed Omadino–Okerenkoko–Escravos Road and Bridges project, an infrastructure initiative intended to improve connectivity between Warri and key coastal communities. In April 2026, the NDDC said the Delta State Government, NDDC and Chevron were committed to quality execution of projects and that discussions were ongoing on the Omadino–Okerenkoko–Escravos Road.
The project has been described by government officials as important for improving economic activity, security and access to communities along the coastal corridor.
Against that background, the Omadino leadership is now asking the Federal Government to ensure that economic opportunities associated with oil and gas activities are not limited to external contractors while qualified people and companies from the host community remain excluded.
The community specifically appealed to President Tinubu to direct the relevant government agencies to examine its complaints and engage Chevron Nigeria Limited on the employment and contracting concerns.
It also called for the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC, and other relevant regulatory bodies to examine the issues raised in the petition and ensure compliance with applicable petroleum, local-content and host-community regulations.
The petition further urged the authorities to consider the circumstances of trained local workers and indigenous equipment owners when reviewing employment and contracting opportunities connected with Chevron’s operations.
The allegations contained in the petition have not been independently established, and no response from Chevron Nigeria Limited to the latest September 23 petition was identified in the sources reviewed.
The development nevertheless puts renewed attention on a longstanding question in Nigeria’s oil-producing communities: how host communities, indigenous businesses and trained local workers can secure meaningful participation in the economic value generated from petroleum operations in their areas.
For Omadino, the community says its latest appeal to the Presidency is intended to secure what it considers fairer access to employment, contracting and economic opportunities within the oil and gas sector.
