By Abisola THOMPSON
Some stakeholders in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector have called for effective regulation and implementation of policies to address the sector’s infrastructure challenges to boost for ease of doing business.
The stakeholders made the appeal In Abuja at the 2nd Nigerian International Petroleum Summit (NIPS) with the theme, “Regulatory and Policy Dialogue on Petroleum and Related Business Sector’’.
A Member, Federal House of Representatives, representing Esan North-East/South-East Federal Government Constituency, Edo State, Mr Sergius Ogun said that effective regulation and implementation of policies would boost investments in the sector.
Ogun said that unless government handed off from oil and gas business, effective regulation and implementation of policies that would attract investment in the sector would not be possible.
According to the lawmaker, government should divest from business and investment in the industry to enhance effective regulation and implementation of policies.
“The sector will be more productive and cost-reflective if government brings down its stakes from the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) and allows it to be run as a private entity.
“NNPC should be privatised to boost revenue; government’s business should be to create the enabling environment.
“Government has no business in business; they should create the environment for business to thrive. In most parts of the world, government has access to land.
“They have access to law; they can make laws. They have access to develop capacity, but they don’t have access to the funding,’’ Ogun said.
Dr Tominiyi Owolabi, a Partner in Olaniwun Ajayi Practice, said that the gap between regulation and implementation of policy remained a major challenge.
Owolabi urged government to work on ease of doing business in Nigeria to attract investors.
He advised government to make policies that would move the country away from oil and gas income to focus more on better revenue through legislative clarity as the key to ease of doing business.
According to Owolabi, government has a role to stimulate the industry in pushing things that would revive the sector and create enabling environment for investment.
“If the regulation and implementation of policies to do business in Nigeria is difficult, you will not get investors. We are still playing politics with our legislation.
“Some of the policy statements like the gas policy is dragging too long. We need to put our gas and refineries in place to move the sector,’’ he said.
Mr Bank-Anthony Okoroafor, the Chairman, Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN), said that creating effective policy regime with relevant data through analysis would drive the industry better.
Okoroafor said that for effective policy there should be some fundamentals, adding that nobody would respect policy without obligations.
He advocated for policies that would remove multiple taxation to attract investment into the country, saying that Nigeria was not about policy but rather implementation of those policies.
“We should look towards matching willing buyer to willing seller; we are tired of talking without actions.
“There should be incentives and penalties if Final Investment Decision (FID) is delayed,’’ the PETAN chairman said.
Mr Soji Awogbade, Principal Partner, AELEX said that the man-hours spent in getting things done in Nigeria was more challenging, adding that government ought to have changed the ease of doing business in the country.
Awogbade said that Ghana had a workable model that was more effective on ease of doing business, adding that getting a document signed in ministries took longer hours and was a set back for the industry.
The Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, said that the current administration under his watch had reduced the hours wasted in signing documents.
He said that some projects’ signature that took about 24 hours in the past had been reduced to nine hours.
Kachikwu said that government had generated about N1.5 billion through the early renewal of oil blocks.
The minister of state said that the oil and gas ministries and departments had reformed and changed their mode of doing business through speedy delivery.
