the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, at a meeting in
Abuja.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi
Gbajabiamila, says members of the Green Chamber are determined to
pass the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) within the next six
months.
He gave the assurance on Tuesday in Abuja when he received a
delegation of the Oil Producers Trade Section (OPTS) under the
Lagos State Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
“On the PIB, there are two things that the House would want to
do – first, the House is determined to pass the bill within the
next six months, or probably less, because the clock has already
started running from the time it was presented,” he was quoted as
saying in a statement by his media adviser, Lanre Lasisi.
The lawmaker added, “Two, the House is determined to pass a PIB
that is satisfactory to all. I know it’s difficult to satisfy
everybody, but we will try our best to satisfy everybody,” he
said.
He said the House would ensure that it carried all stakeholders
along in working on the draft legislation until its passage.
Gbajabiamila also urged members of the OPTS led by their
Chairman, Mr Mike Sangster, to avail themselves the opportunity
they have at hand to reach out to the House ad-hoc Committee on PIB
to make their inputs.
He was, however, concerned about the submission by Sangster that
the PIB, in its present form, would not make the Nigerian oil and
gas industry competitive globally.
“The PIB has been long coming. Because of the various interests,
it’s difficult to pass a bill that addresses the interests of
everyone. But the PIB luckily will involve local content.
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“I need to ask the question that where were you when they were
making this law? Your inputs should have been there. It’s never too
late for you to have your inputs,” the speaker told the OPTS
Chairman.
In his remarks, Mr Sangster raised concerns about the present
form of the PIB, which he said if passed the way it was, it would
negatively affect Nigeria’s competitiveness in the global
market.
He noted that in the past years, the African continent attracted
about $70 billion of investment in the oil and gas industry but
only about $3 billion came to Nigeria despite being a major player
continentally.
When the Speaker sought to know from Sangster if the PIB had any
positives, the OPTS chairman responded in the affirmative, noting
that the PIB represented the much-needed reforms in the sector.
Sangster added that in its present form, the Bill “doesn’t
provide the environment for future investments.”
He also raised other issues such as the preservation of the oil
and gas business in the country, royalties, tax, how to handle
NNPC’s outstanding liabilities, segregation of the upstream and
downstream, and complexities in the implementation of the bill.
Noting that the petroleum industry had the capacity to create
thousands of jobs in the next 10 years, Sangster said, “We would
encourage the House to reach out to other sources to have a better
analysis of the PIB.”