The Bill for an Act to Prohibit Flaring of Natural Gas in Nigeria and Other Matters, 2017, passed second reading at the Senate yesterday.
The bill is sponsored by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Gas, Senator Albert Bassey.
Leading debate on the bill, Bassey said that flaring natural gas was one of the most dangerous environmental and energy waste practices in the country’s petroleum industry.
According to him, gas flaring has adverse effect on the environment and human health.
The lawmaker said that the practice had caused economic losses to the nation, depriving it of tax revenue and trade opportunities and clean and cheaper energy source for citizens.
“Available data from the NNPC has shown that Nigeria lost billions in revenue last year.
“The volume of gas flared is sufficient to generate reasonable quantity of megawatts of electricity. This is not to say the unquantifiable social, health and environmental impacts.
“It appears that the euphoria of oil discovery and commencement of production in 1958 blinded Nigerians as there was no provision to handle gas in association with oil.
“Government neither stipulated any law nor guidance during the nascent period of our oil production history.
“All efforts to stop the flaring of natural gas has not been effective and Nigerians have remained the victims of lack of Gas Flaring Prohibition Act,’’ he said.
Bassey said that when passed, the bill would help to provide a strong legal framework for effective monitoring and regulation of gas activities in line with current realities.
He said that the bill would equally address the inadequacies of the 1979 Act by stipulating adequate penalties.
He explained that the bill sought to ensure achievement of the nation, play out target of Jan 1, 2030 in line with the United Nations Charter.
Contributing, Chairman of Committee on Finance, Sen. John Enoh, said it was disheartening that Nigeria was still battling with stopping gas flaring.
He said that several deadlines had been set to end it but that nothing meaningful had been achieved.
He called for the passage of the bill in order to put strict measures in place to tackle the problems posed by the flaring of gas.
“We remain an amazing country. Since 1958 we are still talking about what to do about gas flaring. So, we have to put in measures to make it expensive to flare gas,’’ Enoh said.
Other lawmakers supported the bill in view of the hazards gas flaring posed to the economy.
In his remarks, the Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, who presided at the plenary, said that Nigeria was not in short supply of laws and regulations.
Ekweremadu said that the problem was poor enforcement of the laws and regulations.
“In addition to making these laws, I believe that we should also wake up to our responsibility regarding the issue of oversight.
“This is because that is the only the way we can get the enforcement agencies and regulatory agencies to be alive to their responsibilities.
“If we all do our work from the National Assembly to the enforcement and regulatory agencies, I am sure we will be able to get some of these things right,’’ he said.
Passage of the bill for third reading was made through a unanimous vote by the lawmakers.
Meanwhile, the Chairman, the National Executive Council of Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF), Mr Ede Dafinone,  yesterday called on the Federal Government to put an end to gas flaring in the country.
Dafinone told newsmen in Lagos that sustained gas flaring in the Niger Delta Area had caused untold damage to the environment.
According to him, the affected communities are always illuminated by gas flares, even at night.
“l do not think that there is any other country in the world where gas flaring is done on such a large scale.
“Sadly enough, gas is a valuable resource that is being wasted.
“It will be beneficial to us as a nation to channel this useful `waste’ (gas) into a business where the gas, being flared, can be accumulated for our domestic use or export.
“This is important, especially in Nigeria where we don’t have sufficient energy,’’ he added.
Dafinone bemoaned a situation in which deadlines for the cessation of gas flaring had continuously been shifted.
He said that anywhere a sanctions regime favoured less stringent penalties and fines, offending individuals, companies and organisations would always prefer to pay fines.
He, however, conceded that he was not aware of the nature of the fines imposed on oil companies for gas flaring or if they were even paying any fine at all.
“Since gas flaring still exists, it means it is cheaper or more convenient for the oil companies to pay fines for flaring gas than stopping it.
“The penalty or fine to stop people from committing an act is always graduated; at the initial stage, it is small and put on record as a warning.
“The fine is increased yearly but after five, 10 and 15 years, the penalty is properly set. In that case, it would be in your benefit not to flare natural gas again.
“If that is the case, l am sure that the oil companies would have stopped gas flaring a long time ago,’’ he said.
Dafinone, however, said that it was expedient to have useful alternatives to gas flaring, adding that the nation and affected communities would be better off if gas flaring was totally stopped.