Buhari Seeks Amendments To PIA

the world you're talking about trillions a year," he added. "This is where the private sector and wealth funds are so vitally important, ensuring that they invest and ultimately get a return as well." Asked to explain Cop26 to a teenager, Sharma, who has two daughters aged 21 and 19, recounts the dramatic impact of flooding, wildfires and hurricanes, some of which he has seen first-hand having travelled to 33 countries this year. "It becomes incumbent on us at this moment - to ensure that we get global temperatures within control," he said. "I'm incredibly concerned. The decisions world leaders take are going to impact significantly on the next generation." He said that climate events were clearly "getting more ferocious and frequent". One of the countries he visited was the Caribbean island of Barbuda that is still recovering from the destructive 2017 hurricane Irma. "I said to them what message do you want me to take back?" The response from Barbuda’s people was sobering. "They said: ‘you've got to tell the world’s biggest emitters that they have to take action otherwise we're not going to have a place to call home’."

In PIA 2021, President Buhari has urged the 9th Assembly to examine the administrative structure of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority and the Upstream Regulatory Commission. Although the joint National Assembly committees working on the PIB had previously proposed a 5% equity stake for the development of host societies, the

Senate led the charge to reduce it to 3%, while the House of Representatives adopted the panel's recommendation. However, the National Assembly approved the decision of a conference committee formed by the presiding officers of both chambers, which set the equity share at 3%. This generated controversy as senators from the South-South geopolitical zone kick against it and requested the President to resolve the impasse by seeking an amendment to increase the equity share to five per cent. However, the new amendments proposed by the President did not address the concerns of the SouthSouth lawmakers, rather it centred on the need to increase the numbers of the non-executive board members of each of the regulatory agencies from two to six, to capture the six geopolitical zones. Buhari wrote, “The Petroleum Industry Act 2021 provided for the appointment of two non executive members for the board of the two regulatory institutions. “I am of the view that this membership limitation has not addressed the principle of balanced geopolitical representation of the Country. “Therefore, I pray for the intervention of the 9th Assembly to correct this oversight in the interest of our national unity. “Needless to add that this amendment will provide a sense of participation and inclusion to almost every section of the Country in the decision making of strategic institutions such as oil industry. “if this amendment is approved, it will now increase the number of the non executive members from two to six that is one person from each of the six geopolitical zones of the Country” President Buhari also removed the Ministers of Finance and Petroleum Resources from the board of the two agencies, stating that the two Ministers already have constitutional responsibilities of either supervision or inter-governmental relations. The President said, “They can continue to perform such roles without being on the board. “It is also important to note that administratively, the representatives of the ministries in the board will be directors – being the same rank with the directors in the institution “This may bring some complications in some decision making especially on issues of staff related matters.” Buhari noted that the appointments of the Executive Directors who would be in charge of the seven departments in the NMDPRA should not be subjected to Senate confirmation since they are civil servants who were promoted in the course of their careers. He said, “The Act has made provision for seven departmental heads in the Authority to be known as executive directors. “Their appointment (according to the PIA) will also be subjected to Senate confirmation. This category of officers are civil servants and not political appointees. “The Senate is invited to note the need to exempt serving public officers from the established confirmation process for political appointments. “This will ensure effective management of the regulatory institutions through uniform implementation of public service rules for employees of the Authority. “In the future, these positions will obviously be filled by the workers in the Authority.” He added that the proposed amendment would represent a 44 per cent expansion of the board site as a result of the increase of the board membership – from nine to 13 members Buhari said, “This composition would strengthen the institutions and guarantee national spread and also achieve the expected policy contributions.”