Reps adopt 318 sections of PIB, ready to pass document into law
Levinus Nwabughiogu
POLITICS DIGEST – House of Representatives, Thursday, considered the recommendations of the age-long Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB.
The clauses and sections of the bill are 318 in all.
The piece of legislation from the Executive is about 20 years old in the National Assembly.
Previous attempts to pass the bill into law by the former Assemblies hit the bricks due to variegated interests from high and might.
Section 240, subsection 2 of the bill that prescribes 2.5 percent equity for the host communities was amended to provide for 5 percent.
Moving the motion earlier for the consideration of the report, the Chairman of the Adhoc Committee on PIB, Hon. Mohammed Mongunu said by passing the bill into law, the House would have written its name in gold.
Read Also:
“We need to pass this bill so that our name will be written in gold. By passing this bill, the seeks to bring governance issue in the oil Industry in tandem with the international best practice. It will unbundle NNPC so that NNPC will be NNPC limited and metamorphose into a limited liability company.
“The bill seeks to create a commission in the oil and gas industry for the purpose of bringing governance in a transparent manner with a viewing to making Nigerian oil gas industry competitive and attract more investments.
“Against this background, the passage of this bill has eluded the previous assembly. We should pass this bill so that our names will be written in gold”, he said.
Speaking after the consideration of the report in the Commitee of the Whole chaired by the Deputy Speaker, Ahmed Wase, Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila hailed the House for achieving the feat.
“I want to commend the 24 wise men and the 360 members in producing this 318 sections law.
“In the coming week, the electoral amendment will follow suit. By the time we are done, irrespective of the which side of the divide you are, this 9th House would have done us proud”, he said.
