Dickson Seeks Review Of PIB, Urges Buhari To Withhold Assent

*Says 3% For Host Communities May Create Crisis

The senator representing Bayelsa West in the Senate, Henry
Seriake Dickson has called for the review of the Petroleum Industry
Bill (PIB) recently passed by the National Assembly.

The bill provides that three percent of oil profit should be
channeled to the development of host communities.

But lawmakers and other stakeholders from the south-south zone
had expressed displeasure over the legislation, saying the three
percent would not create an enabling environment for investment to
thrive in the Niger Delta.

Senator Dickson, also a former governor of Bayelsa Sate, told
journalists yesterday in Abuja during a briefing that PIB as passed
by the National Assembly was not helpful to the host communities,
oil companies and the country.

He said, “It is not a wise decision to go against the wishes of
the host communities because they are in their thousands.

“The host communities know that what was proposed for them at
the beginning of the bill was 10 per cent, and know they got three
per cent and nobody is talking to them, nobody is engaging
them.

“The investors that the federal government is trying to bring
will not come while those who come would take off when they
discovered that the situation was not conducive for them.

“The federal government is dealing with banditry, kidnapping,
Boko Haram, which it has not conquered, yet they want to open
another chapter in over eight states or more for insecurity.

“We believe that there should be a review of the legislation
first. There shouldn’t be a signature yet. President Muhammadu
Buhari shouldn’t assent to it yet. It should be delayed for a more
consultative and inclusive work, so that while trying to solve
problems, you don’t create more problems.”

*Says 3% For Host Communities May Create Crisis

The senator representing Bayelsa West in the Senate, Henry
Seriake Dickson has called for the review of the Petroleum Industry
Bill (PIB) recently passed by the National Assembly.

The bill provides that three percent of oil profit should be
channeled to the development of host communities.

But lawmakers and other stakeholders from the south-south zone
had expressed displeasure over the legislation, saying the three
percent would not create an enabling environment for investment to
thrive in the Niger Delta.

Senator Dickson, also a former governor of Bayelsa Sate, told
journalists yesterday in Abuja during a briefing that PIB as passed
by the National Assembly was not helpful to the host communities,
oil companies and the country.

He said, “It is not a wise decision to go against the wishes of
the host communities because they are in their thousands.

“The host communities know that what was proposed for them at
the beginning of the bill was 10 per cent, and know they got three
per cent and nobody is talking to them, nobody is engaging
them.

“The investors that the federal government is trying to bring
will not come while those who come would take off when they
discovered that the situation was not conducive for them.

“The federal government is dealing with banditry, kidnapping,
Boko Haram, which it has not conquered, yet they want to open
another chapter in over eight states or more for insecurity.

“We believe that there should be a review of the legislation
first. There shouldn’t be a signature yet. President Muhammadu
Buhari shouldn’t assent to it yet. It should be delayed for a more
consultative and inclusive work, so that while trying to solve
problems, you don’t create more problems.”