The House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), has said that the parliament was committed to overhauling the oil and gas sector to give the economy a boost.
The Chairman of the Committee, Honourable Mohammed Tahir Monguno, said this on Wednesday at the inauguration of the ad-hoc committee, saying that this would be achieved through the passage of the age-long PIB which scaled through second reading in the House on Tuesday.
The Bill is comprised of 5 chapters which include Governance and Institutions, Administration, Host Communities Development, Petroleum Industry,Fiscal Framework and Miscellaneous Provisions.
It also included 7 Schedules: Right of Pre-Emption; Principles of Negotiating Incorporated Joint Ventures; Domestic Base Price and Pricing Framework; Pricing Formula for Gas Price for the Gas Based; Industries; Capital Allowances; Production Allowances and Cost Price Ratio Limit; and Petroleum Fees, Rents and Royalty.
The Bill seeks to provide for Legal, Governance, Regulatory and Fiscal framework for the Nigerian Petroleum Industry, the Development of Host Communities and for related matters.
The Bill when passed will seek the improvement of clarity of structures, roles, accountability, transparency and overall efficiency and effectiveness of the institutions in the oil Industry.
Monguno, while addressing colleagues at the inaugural meeting of the committee yesterday, urged Nigerians to make inputs to the bill by submitting their memoranda.
He said the House would pass the bill by the end of first quarter of 2021 barring any unforeseen circumstances.
“Under our watch as a Committee, which I am privileged to Chair, it is a general consensus that the passage of this Bill is long overdue. We are taking time to review what has been done by the previous Assemblies and what we need to do differently.
“Prior to the referral of the Bill, the Leadership of the House, the Senate and the relevant Committees of the National Assembly, has been briefed
by the Hon. Minister of Petroleum with his team, wherein most of the concerns and controversies contained in the previous drafts have been significantly addressed with this present draft.
“Going forward, the Committee will do its best by engaging various Stakeholders, civil societies and general public by subjecting the Bill to detailed and public scrutiny to ensure that Nigerians are carried along. We are confident that this piece of legislation will stand the test of time.
“In as much as we are eager to pass the bill, we will not circumvent legislative process, it is our hope and believe that the Bill will be passed by the end of the first quarter of year 2021.
“The Committee has taken liberty to create a Website which will serve as one of the platforms where stakeholders and interested members of the general public can download the text of the Bill and also upload comments/inputs/memoranda to same.
“The Website is particularly important because, it enable all Nigerians so long as you have internet access, irrespective of where they might be or
leave, to participate in the legislative process. The Address of the Website is www.hrpib.org.ng.
“We are by this notice calling on the Stakeholders and interested members of the general public to visit our Website, for updates on the Committee‘s
activities, to download the text of the Bill and also upload memoranda to same,” Monguno said.
