Buhari’s refusal to sign PIGB into law will be regarded as a big set-back for the reform of the oil industry after years of campaigns and controversies.
… FG denies planned sale of NLNG
Adewale Sanyaolu with agency reports
The Federal Government’s efforts to open up the oil sector for increased Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), may have suffered another deadly blow with report that President Muhammadu Buhari, has withheld presidential accent to the much awaited Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB), recently passed by the National Assembly.
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The harmonised version of the bill was passed by both chambers of the National Assembly on March 28, 2018 after which it was transmitted to Aso Rock on Tuesday, July 3, 2018.
The bill which has been in the saddle for close to two decades had suffered several delays and setbacks, forcing the 8th National Assembly to unbundle it into four parts for ease of administration with the first being the PIGB. The proposed law, which is conceived to liberalise the governance structure of Nigeria’s oil industry and open the sector up for more Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has been described by stakeholders as the only leeway for the oil sector.
TheCable Petrobarometer learnt that Buhari has sent back the bill to the national assembly on three grounds.
A major reason according to the Cable was that, if signed into law, Buhari said, it would whittle down his power as minister of petroleum resources.
He equally said all the ministers he consulted over PIGB refused to support his signing it into law, adding that he did not see any “fiscal content” of the bill.
The other three parts of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) included; Industry Fiscal Bill (PIFB), which is currently being considered by the lawmakers, Petroleum Industry Administration Bill (PIAB) and the Petroleum Host Community Bill (PHCB).
Buhari’s refusal to sign PIGB into law will be regarded as a big set-back for the reform of the oil industry after years of campaigns and controversies.
Meanwhile, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr. Ibe Kachikwu, for the umpteenth time has denied that there were plans to sell the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG).
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Kachikwu, gave the rebutal during an investigative hearing by House of Representatives Committee on Gas Resources and Allied Matters in Abuja, yesterday.
Represented by Director, Gas Resources in the ministry, the Minister said his ministry was not aware of any plans by the Federal Govewrnment to sell NLNG.
Documents submitted by the ministry and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on the issue, though harmonised, were not accepted by the committee because of identity issues. The committee discovered irregularities in some of the documents as presented by NNPC’s Chief Operating Officer (Upstream), Mr Bello Rabiu, who represented the Group Managing Director (GMD), Baru Maikanti.
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The committee also pointed out that the documents were not authenticated as they were not signed by any superior officers of the corporation and ministry.
This was in spite of the explanation by representative of the GMD that the documents may be different but that the figures were the same.