The Orashi National Congress, ONC, apex socio-cultural body of Abua/Odual, Ahoada East, Ahoada West and Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Areas, has expressed deep concern over recurring devastating floods ravaging the Orashi region and the entire Rivers State.
The group said over 150 communities in Orashi are currently submerged following the overflow of the Orashi and Niger Rivers.
According to ONC, more than 500,000 persons have been displaced in Ahoada West, Abua/Odual and Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni LGAs alone in the 2025/2026 flood cycle, while farmlands, schools, health centres and NDDC roads have been washed away.
It noted that federal flood intervention funds released to states have not reached Orashi, which it described as the epicentre of flooding in Rivers State.
ONC observed that Rivers State received less than 12 per cent of the N16 billion Federal Ecological Fund disbursed in 2025, despite being among the top three flood-impacted states according to NEMA data.
The Congress lamented that there has been no permanent IDP camp, no dredging of the Orashi River and no embankment project in Orashi since 2012.
It added that early warnings from NEMA, NIHSA and the Federal Ministry of Environment were not matched with funding for mitigation, while PIA Host Community Funds and Ecological Funds are not being used for flood resilience in oil-producing riverine communities.
The ONC called on the Federal Government to take urgent action:
i. It called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to approve an emergency supplementary flood intervention fund of N20 billion for Rivers State, with 60 per cent earmarked for the most vulnerable Orashi LGAs – Ahoada West, Abua/Odual, ONELGA and Ahoada East.
ii. It urged the Federal Ministry of Environment and the Ecological Fund Office to release outstanding ecological funds and accelerate the dredging of the Orashi River, construction of flood embankments and desilting of blocked waterways in Orashi.
iii. It called on the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, to establish permanent IDP resettlement centres in Mbiama, Ekpeyeland, Omoku and Abua with food, medicine and flood-resistant shelters.
iv. It asked the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, to allocate 30 per cent of its 2026 budget to flood control and shoreline protection projects in Orashi and other riverine areas.
v. It called on the Rivers State Government to publish accounts of all flood intervention funds received from the Federal Government and international donors since 2022 and ensure transparent distribution to impacted Orashi communities.
vi. It urged House of Representatives members, Hon. Victor Obuzor and Hon. Solomon Bob, to move a motion of urgent public importance on the Orashi flood disaster and sponsor a bill for a National Flood Resilience Trust Fund.
“Orashi region contributes over 40 per cent of Rivers State oil output but is abandoned during floods. We cannot continue to be oil-rich but flood-poor. ONC will not accept palliatives sharing in Port Harcourt while our people sleep in canoes,” the group said.
The Congress said it stands ready to partner with the Federal Government, State Government and all relevant agencies for community-based flood mitigation.
