PIB Passes Second Reading At Senate

The Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) 2020, yesterday, scaled second reading at the Senate after exhaustive debates by senators across party divide.
The bill was subsequently referred to the Senate Committee on Petroleum Downstream, Petroleum Upstream and Gas for further legislative action.
The committee was mandated to report back to the Senate after eight weeks.
The upper chamber also adjourned plenary for five weeks to give its committees full time for consideration of the N13.08trillion 2021 budget and interaction with ministries, departments and parastatals (MDAs)
Leading the debate on the PIB, the Senate Leader, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi, noted the objectives of the Petroleum Industry Bill.
His words: “The bill is to create efficient and effective governing institutions, with clear and separate roles and to establish a framework for the creation of a commercially oriented and profit-driven national petroleum company: To promote the exploration and exploitation of petroleum resources in Nigeria for the benefit of the Nigerian people and the efficient, effective and sustainable development of the petroleum industry; to promote the safe and efficient operation of the transportation and distribution infrastructure for the petroleum industry and the framework for developing third party access arrangements to petroleum infrastructure; and to promote the competitive and liberalized downstream petroleum industry that promotes the processing of petroleum within Nigeria and the development of fuel and chemical industry”.
According to the Senate leader, the PIB, when passed is also ”To create a conducive business environment for operations in the petroleum industry that enhances peaceful and harmonious co-existence between licensees or lessees and host communities by conferring direct social and economic benefits from petroleum operations on host communities; ensure that petroleum operations are conducted in a manner that protects the health and safety of persons, property and the environment; and establish a fiscal framework that is forward-looking, progressive and based on a simplified tax administration that encourages investment in the Nigerian petroleum industry, balancing rewards with risk and enhancing revenues to the Federal Government of Nigeria while ensuring a fair return to investors”.
He further stated that the bill was divided into five chapters each of which was further divided into different parts cutting across governance, institutions and administration of upstream, midstream and downstream services.
The leader explained that the chapter 3 of the bill deals with host communities development while Chapter 4 provides for Petroleum Industry Fiscal Framework just as chapter 5 covers Miscellaneous Provisions.
X-raying the principles of the bill, Senator Abdullahi Yahaya said, “the bill is designed and drafted-on the basis of three sets of principles which include establishment of good governance, competitiveness, global best practices and ease of doing business in the Nigeria oil and gas industry.
“Assurance of early revenues for government, simplicity of administration, equity and fairness, competitiveness and transparency.
“Predictability, responsiveness, best practice, sustainability and role clarity in the regulation and management of the industry”
The PIB according to him, proposes to transmute the current commercial entity, the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) into an incorporated commercial company, the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited.
“It also will transform the current Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), the Petroleum Equalization Fund Management Board (PEFMB) and the Petroleum Products Price Regulatory Agency into two new institutions, that is, the Commission and Authority.
“These new entities shall be self-funding and will not rely on appropriation. Therefore, no funding will be appropriated by the National Assembly for these entities under the Petroleum Industry Bill 2020”, he said.
The senators, in their contributions, seemed unanimous in their acceptance of the bill and the contents as many said the proposed legislation was long overdue.
The senators are of the opinion that the provisions of the bill will reinvigorate the Nigerian oil and gas sectors, create investments friendly environment, cater for the host communities and finally establish policies that will boost the nation’s economy.
In his remarks after the passage of the bill for second reading, the President of the Senate,Dr Ahmad Lawan, noted that the PIB has over stayed on the shelve, and thus time, the lawmakers must break the jinx and see that it is passed and accented to.
Lawan urged the three committees mandated to make more legislative inputs to be thorough in their work
“Distinguished colleagues, the PIB jinx must be broken by this 9th National Assembly for the required liberalization of the oil and gas sector.
“We should make the PIB as one of our legacies the way we did with the Petroleum Production Sharing Contract Bill last year “, he said.
It would be recalled that the Bill titled: “A 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 2020” was sponsored by Senate Leader, Yahaya Abdullahi (Kebbi North).

By: Nneka Amaechi-Nnadi, Abuja