The Senior Special Assistant to the President on National
Assembly matters, Ita Enang, has said that the updated the
Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) is now with President Muhammadu
Buhari.
Enang made the disclosure on Channels TV “The Core” programme
that features policy makers and a live audience.
The programme looks at the relationship between the executive
and the National Assembly in the last 20 years.
Enang was responding to a question from a member of the live
audience on the status of the bill.
The PIB, which has been in the works since 2008 when it was
first introduced to the legislature, suffered setbacks in the sixth
and seventh National Assemblies.
The bill seeks to change the organisational structure and fiscal
terms governing the industry.
The eighth National Assembly split the PIB into four parts –
Petroleum Industry Governance Bill, Petroleum Industry
Administration Bill, Petroleum Industry Fiscal Bill and Petroleum
Host Community Bill – to fast-track its passage into law.
After its passage by both the Senate and the House of
Representatives, the PIGB was transmitted to the President for
assent in July last year to enable it to become law but it emerged
in August that Buhari declined to assent to the bill.
Enang, had earlier identified the provision of the PIGB
permitting the Petroleum Regulatory Commission to retain as much as
10 per cent of the revenue generated as one of the reasons Buhari
declined to assent to the bill.
Buhari stated this at the Presidential Villa, when he hosted the
newly-inaugurated national executive committee members of NUPENG
led by its national president.
The president agreed with NUPENG that the Petroleum Industry
Bill (PIB) needed to become an act, but explained that dialogue was
ongoing on it.
The House of Representatives on May 23, re-committed and passed
the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB) after considering
President Buhari’s concerns.
The lower legislative chamber passed the bill after removing the
provisions Buhari disagreed with.
It said the decision to withdraw the affected clauses in the
bill was because the president’s observations were germane for the
smooth operations of the bills.
Buhari had, while hosting the newly-elected officials of NUPENG
in December last year said: “I fully agree with you that reforming
the petroleum industry will unlock numerous untapped potentials for
the nation. However, these reforms must be well thought out and
must have the best interest of Nigeria and Nigerians as its core
objective.
“Such reforms cannot and must not be rushed, if we must get it
right. We are still suffering from the effects of many legacy
policies that were rushed and passed without fully appreciating the
consequences of the provisions embedded in them.
“Whatever decision we take now will impact either negatively or
positively on generations to come. The Petroleum Industry Bill was
conceived to ensure Nigeria’s future generations are positively
impacted by its oil wealth; it was never about short-term gains. I
want to assure you that dialogue on the Petroleum Industry Bill is
still ongoing. At the end, we will have a bill that the nation will
be proud of.”
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