Uche Usim, Abuja
Publish What You Pay-Nigeria, a national coalition of over 150 Civil Society organisations across the nation’s six geo-political zones has disclosed that the country loses at least N3 trillion annually with non-passage of the Petroleum Industry Bills (PIBs) still at the National Assembly.
The body also lamented that the current law in place was enacted over 50 years and was no longer in tune with current realities, leaving the country perennially shortchanged.
Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja yesterday, the National Coordinator, PWYP Nigeria, Peter Egbule, stated that recent efforts of the Buhari administration to ensure the passage of the PIB necessitated its disaggregation into four distinctive bills, including the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill, (PIGB), the Petroleum Industry Administrative Bill (PIAB), the Petroleum Industry Fiscal Bill (PIFB) and the Petroleum Host and Impacted Community Bill (PHAICB).
According to Egbule, the bills are at various levels of statutory legislative processes of enacting into law.
“The country is losing so much due to non-passage of these bills. We are talking about N3 trillion annually. That’s a huge sum.
“Of the four bills, the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB) was recently passed by the National Assembly, which was expected to have been transmitted to the President for his assent before now, but was recalled by the National Assembly for a review.
He thus called on the National Assembly to expedite action on the PIGB as it was necessary for effective regulation of the petroleum industry in Nigeria.
He regretted that the attempt to have regulatory laws in place for the industry has lasted for 18 years (2000 – 2018).
“To be precise, these attempts cut across different administrations, without commensurate results. It is important to note that the substantive law presently guiding the operations, administration, and overarching regulation of the petroleum industry in Nigeria (the Petroleum Act of 1969), was enacted about fifty years ago. “Some of the provisions of this Act have since been overtaken by significant changes in the domestic and global realities of the industry. In spite of this obvious need to restructure the regulatory frameworks of the entire petroleum value chain in Nigeria, successive administrations have failed to achieve this”, he added.
Egbule further explained that the passage of these bills were in the collective interest of all Nigerians, as this will create a more functional administrative structure, significantly reduce financial leakages, encourage foreign and domestic investments, provide succor for host communities, among others.
“We recognise and appreciate the various innovative efforts made so far by the present administration, as well as the valuable time dedicated to the bills by the National Assembly towards the passage. We commend these efforts, and appeal to them not to relent.
“Although we hope and expect that the President will assent to the PIGB and the other bills whenever they are transmitted to him, but we also recognize that it is his right to refuse assent. If the latter happens, it will be disappointing to well-meaning Nigerians, resulting in another round of legislative reconsiderations, political intrigues, delays, and public frustrations.”