Dickson seeks review of PIB, urges Buhari to withhold assent

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.”