Speaker of House of Representatives Femi Gbajabiamila says the lawmakers
plan to pass Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) by April.
Gbajabiamila made the announcement while speaking at a public hearing on
the Bill, organised by the House ad hoc Committee on PIB on Wednesday in
Abuja.
He said that the oil industry had been performing below expectations due
to the absence of national legislation.
According to him, it is disappointing and frankly difficult to explain
how successive governments have failed to deliver on the reform.
“This public hearing allows all stakeholders to contribute to the Bill
for an Act to provide legal, governance, regulatory and fiscal framework
for the Nigerian Petroleum Industry, the development of host
communities, and for related matters.
“It is an opportunity for all of us to collaborate to improve this Bill,
so when it becomes law, it will serve the best interests of all our
people.
“The process of engaging with stakeholders will continue beyond this
public hearing to accommodate the diversity of interests and ensure all
critical views form part of the deliberations that inform the final
legislation.
“We must first make sure our oil and gas industry is more productive,
more efficient and more profitable at a time of declining global
profitability,” he said.
Gbajabiamila explained that the PIB, when passed would address peculiar
and localised concerns in ways that will allow the oil and gas industry
to compete more effectively globally.
He said that Nigeria would borrow from what had worked for other
countries and implement uniquely to suit the current needs locally.
The lawmaker said that the PIB was a necessary step towards reorganising
the sector to respond to the new global reality of decreasing demand and
the diminished profitability of fossil fuels.
“Our assignment here is first to ensure Nigeria’s oil and gas industry
operates optimally for the benefit of all Nigerians.
“Then we must see to it that the industry generates the resources we
need to prepare Nigeria for a future when fossil fuels are worth even
less than they are now.
“Other countries have woken to the challenges of the new dynamics in the
international market for crude oil and natural gas.
“Some have begun to adapt to these new realities, whilst others have
already done so; So my charge to everyone that will be participating is
not to close our minds or our ears to the views and the positions that
may be advanced by various interest groups.
“We are in a world, an economic world, so there must be interest groups,
they will be interest groups and we cannot deny that.
“But what should guide the outcome of what we do here as we accommodate
more views will be what will be in the best interest of the people,” he
said.
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Silva expressed
happiness that the Bill was about to be passed after 20 years of its
introduction.
He said that both chambers of the National Assemble have shown sustained
determination to pass the Bill.
Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation,
(NNPC), Mr Mele Kyari said that crude oil would still be relevant in the
world in the next 30 years.
He said that the passage of the Bill would ensure the needed vigour and
transparency that would in turn engender productivity in the petroleum
industry.(NAN)