Adewale Sanyaolu
Baring any last minute change of stance the House of Representatives has said it will next month pass the much awaited Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB). The Committee on Gas, yesterday, assured that the lower house would pass the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) in the next one month.
The assurance was given by the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Gas, Mr. Fred Agbedi, at the Natural Gas Business Forum 2018 organised by the Nigerian Gas Association (NGA) in Lagos yesterday. He said the decision to fast-track the passage of the bill was borne out of the need to lay down a solid foundation for an enduring petroleum law in the country.
Agbedi said the House would have passed the bill earlier, but was constrained by floods of conflicting presentations by gas stakeholders on the bill.
The lawmaker said the lower house was desirous of fashioning out robust laws that would strengthen the nation’s business environment through collaboration with stakeholders in the gas sector.
Mr. Justine Ezeala, who represented the Managing Director of Nigerian Gas Company, emphasised the need for the private and public sector collaboration to ensure the growth of the nation’s gas sector.
Ezeala said the NGC was well positioned to change the face of gas and also ensure that the sector delivers the right input to Nigerians.
In his remarks, Mr. Ed Ubong, Managing Director of Shell Nigeria Gas, said his company has been in the vanguard of developing domestic gas sector having initiated vertical integrated programme leading to Shell’s divestment into the power sector.
This, he said, had enabled his company to develop 650MW of power plant and linked up several industrial and manufacturing businesses into the country’s supply network.
Also speaking, Dr. Layi Fatona, the Managing Director of ND Western, lamented the fragmented policies of the Federal Government, saying that had caused serious setback to the nation’s gas sector.
He said the Nigerian Gas Master Plan, which was nurtured by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), designed to transform the sector, had been jettisoned by the current government in favour of a new policy direction called ‘7-Big Wins’ of the current government.
He advised that once a policy document was made and adopted, efforts should be made to implement such.