Hope for oil sector reforms, as Buhari gets PIB Bill

President Muhammadu Buhari has finally received the long awaited Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), a good development, which gives hope for reforms in the Nigerian oil sector.

BDSUNDAY gathered authoritatively from the Presidency that the Bill was transmitted to President Buhari by Abubakar Malami, attorney- general of the Federation and minister of Justice, late Thursday.

Ibrahim Gwandu, the special assistant to Malami, confirmed that the Bill has been transmitted to the President.

According to Gwandu, “The office of the AGF presented to Mr. President the PIB for consideration as an Executive Bill and onward transmission to the National Assembly to consider”.

The President had in 2018 rejected the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill ( PIGB), passed by the National Assembly on the grounds that, if signed into law, the 10 percent revenue to regulatory commission would unduly increase the funds accruing to the Petroleum Regulatory Commission to the detriment of the revenue available to the federal, states, federal capital territory and local governments in the country, among others.

Ita Enang, the then senior special assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters, noted that the Bill expanded the scope of Petroleum equalisation fund and some provisions in divergence from this administration’s policy and indeed conflicting provisions on independent petroleum equalisation fund.

He also disclosed that “There are legislative drafting concerns which, if Assented to in the form presented will create ambiguity and conflict in interpretation.”

A public Affairs analyst, Mojeed Dahiru, appealed to lawmakers to avoid previous pitfalls which scuttled efforts to successfully ensure passage of the Bill into law, noting that the government has realized that the issues of subsidy removal cannot be done successfully without the law. “I want members of National Assembly to act fast once the Bill gets to them. Now that the government is determined to deregulate the downstream sector and bring in capital funds through investor, lawmakers must put national interests above sentiments”, he said.

“Let us believe that ending the subsidy regime is a deliberate effort to end the challenges. Just passing it into law may not translate into better fortunes for the petroleum sector. Proper monitoring of the provisions, avoiding undue politicization, and ensuring that everything is done in line with national interests, are imperative to achieving the needed success”.

Speaking on the interests of the host communities, Dahiru noted that Nigeria is a “resource sharing country” and urged lawmakers to ensure the protection of the communities.