Don’t sign PIGB into law, CSOs tell Buhari

Some Civil Society and Community-based Organisations have urged
President Muhammadu Buhari not to sign the Petroleum Industry
Governance Bill into law as passed by the National Assembly.

In a statement made available to our correspondent in Abuja on
Monday, the CSOs, which are based mainly in the Niger Delta, said
there were inherent gaps and dangers in the moves to sign the PIGB
into law as it was fraught with defects in the areas of
environmental protection.

The groups pointed out that the deliberate silence of the bill
on the outlawing of gas flaring with a definite date was not only
ominous and a major setback for the environment, but also a big
blow to the people of the Niger Delta, who had been subjected to
gas intoxication through gas flaring for decades.

The CSOs stated that they had hoped that the lawmakers would
have used the opportunity created by the petroleum legal regimes
review to put an end to decades of the deplorable practice of gas
flaring that had put Nigeria in the hall of environmental shame by
enacting clear-cut provisions for its criminalisation.

They regretted that the failure of the National Assembly to do
this effectively reinforced the Niger Delta region’s feeling of
oppression and state injustice, saying that such acts by state
institutions as the National Assembly and the consequent sentiments
would ultimately make peace and security elusive in the region.

Some Civil Society and Community-based Organisations have urged
President Muhammadu Buhari not to sign the Petroleum Industry
Governance Bill into law as passed by the National
Assembly.

In a statement made available to our correspondent in Abuja on
Monday, the CSOs, which are based mainly in the Niger Delta, said
there were inherent gaps and dangers in the moves to sign the PIGB
into law as it was fraught with defects in the areas of
environmental protection.

The groups pointed out that the deliberate silence of the bill
on the outlawing of gas flaring with a definite date was not only
ominous and a major setback for the environment, but also a big
blow to the people of the Niger Delta, who had been subjected to
gas intoxication through gas flaring for decades.

The CSOs stated that they had hoped that the lawmakers would
have used the opportunity created by the petroleum legal regimes
review to put an end to decades of the deplorable practice of gas
flaring that had put Nigeria in the hall of environmental shame by
enacting clear-cut provisions for its criminalisation.

They regretted that the failure of the National Assembly to do
this effectively reinforced the Niger Delta region’s feeling of
oppression and state injustice, saying that such acts by state
institutions as the National Assembly and the consequent sentiments
would ultimately make peace and security elusive in the region.