Tag: Petroleum industry bill

BREAKING: Buhari commences implementation of Petroleum Industry Act

President Muhammadu Buhari has commenced implementation of the newly signed Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) by approving a steering committee to oversee the process.

The steering committee is headed by the Honourable Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva.

Other members are: Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Group Managing Director, NNPC, Executive Chairman, FIRS, Representative of the Ministry of Justice, Representative of the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Natural Resources, Barrister Olufemi Lijadu as External Legal Adviser, while the Executive Secretary, Petroleum Technology Development Fund, will serve as Head of the Coordinating Secretariat and the Implementation Working Group.

The primary responsibility of the steering committee shall be to guide the effective and timely implementation of the PIA in the course of transition to the petroleum industry envisaged in the reform program, and ensure that the new institutions created have the full capability to deliver on their mandate under the new legislation.

The committee has 12 months duration for the assignment, and periodic updates will be given to Mr President.

August 18, 2021
PDP wants immediate amendment to new Petroleum Industry Act

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has advised President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately forward to the National Assembly an amendment bill to the new Petroleum Industry Act.

The party gave the advice in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, on Monday in Abuja in reaction to the signing of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) into law by Buhari.

Ologbondiyan advised the president to send amendment bill to the national assembly to reflect the true wishes and aspirations of every segment of the Nigerian society.

He expressed surprise that Buhari ignored the huge outcry by majority of disenchanted Nigerians and signed the bill as passed by the National Assembly into law.

He noted that that the signing of the law in spite widespread public rejection amounted to “endorsement of imposition, lack of respect for the people and the tenets of democracy as a system of government’’.

Ologbondiyan added that signing the bill into law was not in the interest of oil producing communities, particularly in the face of the challenges they faced as a result of oil exploration.

“Mr President could have returned the bill to the National Assembly with a request that it is made to address the demands of the oil producing communities.

“Our party fears that the new law cannot guarantee the desired stability and development in the oil and gas sector as well as respite in the Niger Delta region.

“The PDP calls on President Buhari to salvage the situation by immediately forwarding an amendment bill to the National Assembly to reflect the true wishes and aspirations of every segment of our nation,” he said.

Ologbondiyan, however, called for calm across the country, particularly the South-South geo-political zone.

He also urged lawmakers elected on PDP platform to be at alert even as preparation must be in full swing for an urgent amendment to the law.

August 17, 2021
BREAKING: Buhari signs Petroleum Industry Bill into law

President Muhammadu Buhari has signed the much-awaited Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) into law.

TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Buhari signed the PIB into law, following his return from a trip to London, United Kingdom (UK).

The PIB was signed into law on Monday by the President with him working from home.

Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity in a statement confirmed the development, saying the ceremonial part of the new legislation will be done on Wednesday.

TNG reports with the signing of the PIB into law, the legislation is now known officially as the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).

The Senate had passed the Bill on July 15, 2021, while the House of Representatives did same on July 16, thus ending a long wait since early 2000s.

The statement reads: “President Muhammadu Buhari has signed the Petroleum Industry Bill 2021 into law.

“Working from home in five days quarantine as required by the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19 after returning from London on Friday August 13, the President assented to the Bill Monday August 16, in his determination to fulfill his constitutional duty.

“The ceremonial part of the new legislation will be done on Wednesday, after the days of mandatory isolation would have been fulfilled.

“The Petroleum Industry Act provides legal, governance, regulatory and fiscal framework for the Nigerian petroleum industry, the development of host communities, and related matters”.

August 16, 2021
PIB: It’s a lose-lose situation for Nigeria and investors – Sen. Dickson

…Nigeria has nothing to effectively show for all the trillions earned for crude oil sales

…what you call an oil Bloc is someone’s ancestral land

…says he’s proud to be a police man

Former Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Henry Seriake Dickson has said the recently passed Petroleum Industry Bill, otherwise known as PIB is a lose-lose situation for both Nigeria and investors.

TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the former Governor while appearing on a monitored national television programme where he declared that the passed PIB as it is does not favour anybody.

TNG recalls that Dickson was one of the lawmakers alongside South South lawmakers who vehemently opposed the miserable 3 percent allocated to oil host communities during the consideration of the harmonised report by both Chambers last week.

He said this is the first time a civilian government is trying to do something about the issue but with what was passed, it’s a lose-lose situation for all.

Reacting on companies coming to invest in oil communities without the enabling laws, Dickson said:

“Are the communities begging you to come and drill their oil and pollute their land, their waters and their seas, they are not.

“You are the one whose survival and national economy is dependent on, the whole economy rest in the oil that is someone’s ancestral land.

“And for God’s sake, you must recognize that these are resources that belong to a people that the Federal Government through legislations under the military, all these legislations which I call expropriatory legislations were enacted by the military not in a democratic dispensation.

“This is the very first time you are trying to legislate on something that should go to them, back and forth agreement and so on, under democracy.

“But all the laws that have taken these resources from the owners, what you call an oil bloc is somebody’s ancestral property in the Niger Delta.

“So you have got to know that you are talking of the owners, what you, Nigeria takes is just an artificial, fictional owner because you are taking it from the people and vested it in yourself”.

On earnings so far on crude oil sales and preparation after oil goes extinct in Nigeria, the former police man noted:

“Is Nigeria aware, is Nigeria preparing for the day after oil? Do you know the trillions and trillions of dollars that has accrued to the Nigerian state from 1958 till now? Or forget about that, in the last one year trillions and trillions of dollars.

“Let me reverse the question to you, is there anything to show that the Nigerian government has been earning that?”

On his former job as a police man, he said: “I am a proud police man and I am still a police man, I even head a sub-committee on policing in the constitutional review committee and we are doing our best with the able leadership of the Deputy Senate President”.

July 21, 2021
Reps step down consideration of PIB conference committee report

The House of Representatives on Thursday in Abuja stepped down the report of the National Assembly conference committee on Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).

The report was earlier scheduled for presentation, but was stepped down for reason that may not be unconnected with percentage due to host communities.
Rep. Mohammed Monguno, the Chairman, Committee on PIB, was billed to present the report before it was stepped down.

The report was on the Conference Committee on a Bill for an Act to provide legal governance, regulatory and fiscal framework for the Nigerian Petroleum Industry and the Development of Host Communities.

The House had hurriedly dissolved into an executive session to iron out some grey areas on the PIB that was deemed unacceptable to some lawmakers.

Some of the lawmakers, mainly from the oil producing states, had earlier gotten wind of the conference report that recommended three per cent for the host communities.

The lawmakers therefore engaged in a shouting match before commencement of plenary to consider the Electoral Act Amendment Bill and the conference report on PIB Bill.

Rep. Chinyere Igwe (PDP-Rivers), Rep. Boma Goodhead (PDP-Rivers) and Bede Eke (PDP-Imo) were seen visibly angry and shouting that they were not going to accept the three per cent for host communities.

The trio and other lawmakers insisted that it must be five per cent or nothing.

The House had earlier agreed on five per cent while the Senate agreed on three per cent, but the conference committee report via harmonisation settled for the three per cent.

This, however, did not go down well with the lawmakers, which resulted in shouting match and eventually snowballed into a rowdy session.

The Senate had earlier recommended three per cent for the host communities.

However, sequel to the row, the Speaker of the House of Reps, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, and other principal officers walked into the chamber without the usual announcement.

Gbajabiamila immediately dissolved the House into an executive session.

July 15, 2021
HAPPENING NOW: PIB sparks commotion in National Assembly

The National Assembly (NASS) was thrown into commotion on Thursday as the House of Representatives was forced into a closed door session over considerations of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).

TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the Senate was not left out in the commotion that ensued over considerations of the PIB upon its return from the PIB harmonisation committee.

The commotion started as a result of reduction to 3% of PIB funds for Host Communities, forcing the House to go into closed doors after a shouting match as some lawmakers insisted on 5% for Host Communities.

Meanwhile, at the time of filing this report, the Senate had adopted and sustained the 3% equity fund for Host Communities in the harmonised version of the PIB brought back to the chamber.

This was after consideration of the conference committee report with the House of Representatives.

Recall that the Senate passed the PIB on July 1, allocating three per cent to the host communities after the House of Representatives had passed the bill and allocated five per cent to the communities.

Members of the House of Representatives alleged betrayal by the PIB harmonisation committee for accepting 3 percent instead of 5 percent agreed for oil producing communities.

As at 12.20 pm, shouts by majorly Niger Delta Reps rented the air as they waited for the arrival of the Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila.

Details shortly…

July 15, 2021
The Petroleum Industry Bill – Hope Eghagha

After over thirteen years in the making, the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) was passed by both chambers of the National Assembly last week. But almost before the ink of the document was dry, and before the versions of the House of Representatives and the Senate were harmonised, powerful people from the southern part of the country were up in arms about certain provisions of the Bill. The fiercest of these had to do with the percentage of funds accruable to host communities. 10% of Operating Expenditure had been proposed, reduced to 5% and finally 3% at the final stage. Southern governors joined the chorus of persons and bodies to reject some of its provisions. Specifically, the Governors’ Forum rejected the “proposed 30% share of profit for the exploration of oil and gas in the basins”. The Forum also rejected ‘the ownership structure of the proposed Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited’ and disagreed ‘that the company be vested in the Federal Ministry of Finance but should be held in trust by Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority’ (NSIA).

Chief Edwin Clark, foremost voice of reason, equity and justice from the beleaguered region, denounced the PIB and threatened that if there was no reversal, the ‘Niger Delta people may be forced to take their destiny into their hands’, because the ‘IOCs may find themselves denied access to their oil activities in such communities’. As National Leader of PANDEF and National Leader South-South Region demanded that ‘the PIB must be reversed, reviewed and amended to ensure that the Oil-Bearing Communities must now receive not less than 10% of Operating Cost’.

Another sore point was the provocative provision of 30% for the Frontier Exploration Fund. Snippets of reports in the media suggest that whereas host communities would get 3% to drive development, 30% of the funds would be dedicated to prospecting for oil in far flung places. Indeed, some analysts argue that the PIB makes anywhere oil pipelines pass through must be regarded as host community! Put bluntly, although 3% is being grudgingly recommended for the oil bearers, those communities (especially in the north) who are prospecting for oil will get 30% of whatever! Somebody has really taken enough for the owners to notice!

The passage of the Bill coincided with the meeting of Southern governors in Lagos. After the May meeting of the body, some of their resolutions were virtually countered by statements credited to the Attorney General and Minister of Justice and later Mr President. In Lagos, the governors reasserted their demands, made more demands and placed a timeline of September 1 for laws outlawing open grazing to be passed in the south. They also demanded that the next president must come from the south. Indeed, the governors are now listening to the people whom they represent and across party lines. This is how it should be. We are on the way to stopping the dangerous nonsense that has dominated the governance structure in Nigeria!

Once again, the great north-south divide which has become exacerbated under the Buhari administration has cropped up. Crude oil the blessing, crude oil the curse and crude oil the destroyer of the Nigerian State! To be sure, there are fixed positions on the oil industry. There is great disenchantment with the federal authorities over oil blocks allocations, and appointments to positions in the oil firms. Powerful people from distant lands own oil blocks in the Niger Delta. A private refinery promoted and supported by the federal government is being built outside the region, a development that is likely to kill other endeavours in the south. Billionaires from the oil sector who have never visited the region spend money as if prudence has gone out of fashion. Sadly, the people from the zone languish in poverty.

It is against this background that the passed version of the PIB called for serious scrutiny. To be sure, one cannot make a deeply informed analysis until we have full access to the final version of the Bill is made public. Yet the optics is not friendly. And in Nigeria, you must learn to shout if the shadow of the oppressor moves too near you for comfort. There are reports of meetings held in Mecca in which representatives were instructed on what to do, how to muzzle the south. There were reports of caucus meetings in which southern representatives were told that if they walked out on the PIB debate, the northern representatives would still go ahead to pass the bill with a simple majority. The level of impunity is highly provocative. It is driving the wedge between the north and south deeper and deeper. This is certainly not how to build a nation. Of course, it all leads to the strident call on restructuring the country!

Nigeria does not belong to one ethnic group. Nigeria does not belong to one region. It does not belong to three ethnic groups. Nigeria is home to over four hundred ethnic groups. They all have a stake and should have a say in the allocation of resources. The misguided opinion that some people are born to rule is now in the dustbin of history. It is foolishness of the greatest proportion. None of the prophets in Islam or Christianity would subscribe to the obnoxious view that some persons are born to rule. It is foolishness for someone in Sokoto or Kano to claim that oil deposits in the Niger Delta belong to them. Anyone who believes that they are born to rule Nigeria has remined stuck in the Stone Age. Nigerians in the south will resist any form of external domination with their last drop of blood. Any subtle or aggressive attempt to make their lands common property especially for the pleasure of pastoralists offends natural justice. Nobody should imagine that they can get away with it. Short term success, yes. But ultimately there will be a revolt. Indeed, the revolt has started with Boko Haram, the ‘Kanus’ and ‘Igbohos’. More are likely to spring up even in the north.

The two laws one nation approach now epitomised by the incumbent administration is nauseating. Gold is prospected for by individuals in Zamfara State. It is against the letter and spirit of the 1999 Constitution. But the federal government conveniently looks the other way. Sometimes I wonder how southerners serving in the current government really feel about the policies coming from Aso Rock. In their private times, do they think all is well? Do they sleep well? Do they know how badly their kith and kin back at home feel? Is service for self or for the people? It is not a good story. The story of Nigeria as reflected in the PIB.

In my view, the PIB should concentrate on best practices for the industry and the host communities in the interest of Nigeria. The host communities should get compensation for the ecological disaster that has become of their homelands. President Buhari should listen to the public outcry, intervene on the knotty issues, and leave a legacy in the oil sector. Whereas statesmanship creates eternal legacies, partisanship or clannishness is for a time. Murtala Mohammed was a military dictator; yet the nation remembers him through national monuments. Nigeria is on the brink. If the people who are ensconced in the façade that is Aso Rock see things differently, we can only say that time will tell whose vision was blurred by the ephemeral trappings of political power!

July 12, 2021
PIB: Host communities provision is a time bomb – Gov Diri warns

Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri has warned that the definition of a host community in the just passed Petroleum Industry Bill by the National Assembly was a time bomb if not properly addressed.

He also restated the position of governors of the southern states that it was an injustice to allot three per cent of oil revenue for the host communities that bear the brunt of exploration and exploitation activities.

Governor Diri spoke on Tuesday when he featured as guest on Channels Television breakfast current affairs programme, Sunrise Daily.

He was quoted in a press release by his Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Alabrah, that prior to Monday’s meeting of the southern states governors in Lagos, the states had been in consultation with relevant stakeholders on their position, which he said was a minimum of 10 per cent to oil producing communities.

He said it was unthinkable and unacceptable to people of the South that a provision of 30 per cent profit of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation was inserted in the controversial bill for “frontier exploration” in areas that were not clearly specified.

Governor Diri strongly frowned at the definition of oil producing communities and host communities to include areas where pipelines are laid.

He called for a reversal of such proposal, saying it is a time bomb that if not properly addressed could create avoidable crises.

The Bayelsa helmsman restated his commitment and that of his colleagues in the Southern Governors Forum to continuous dialogue to resolve issues that border on the challenges faced by oil producing communities and states.

Responding to a question on open grazing, Diri described cattle rearing as a private business that the states have power to regulate, stressing that there was no going back on the ban of open grazing in Bayelsa, which he said was no longer sustainable.

He stated that the ban was in force in the state since he assented to the bill on March 11, 2021.

On the issue of the governors’ resolve that the president of the country should emerge from the South in 2023, he said although it was a political decision that required consultations and lobby, a president of Southern extraction in the next election would encourage peaceful coexistence in Nigeria.

His words: “Governors did not wait until now to speak on the PIB. Speaking on behalf of my state, we had a position and it was made very clear during the public hearings.

“It is unthinkable and total injustice to allot three per cent to oil producing communities. We stated our position of 10 per cent.

“The definition of host communities or oil producing communities is also worrisome. Oil producing communities should not be where pipelines are laid. If the issue of what an oil producing community is is not addressed, it is a time bomb that could explode.

“The issue of cattle grazing is a commercial, private activity. I do not see why we needed anybody’s opinion to regulate a private activity. We have a duty to protect our people. That is why we have state assemblies. In Bayelsa it already came into effect since March 11, 2021. Open grazing is no longer sustainable. We need to stop it.

“On the issue of Southern presidency, the governors would have to engage in lobby. But it is only natural justice for the south to produce the president after President Buhari’s eight years. It is not constitutional but a gentleman’s agreement to encourage cohesion and peaceful coexistence.”

Speaking on the performance of his administration, Diri said although COVID-19 slowed things down globally, his administration has made appreciable progress in road and infrastructure development, urban renewal of the state capital, Yenagoa, as well as in ensuring peace, unity and reconciliation within the last 16 months of being in office.

He assured that his administration was committed to development of every sector of the state’s economy and called for support from Bayelsans.

July 6, 2021
Senate President constitutes Conference Committee on PIB

Senate President Ahmad Lawan, has announced the composition of the Conference Committee on the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).

The announcement was made on Tuesday at the plenary.

The members of the committee include:
Senate Leader, Yahaya Abdullahi, as Chairman,Sen. Mohammed Sabo, representing North-West Sen.Albert Bassey representing South- South, Sen. Danjuma Goje North-East, Sen. Opeyemi Bamidele, South- West Sen.Stella Oduah South- East Sen. Gabriel Suswam North- Central.

Lawn urged members of the committee to meet with their counterparts in the House of Representatives to enable the National Assembly produce a final document on the PIB for onward transmission to the President Muhammadu Buhari for assent.

“The conference committee will meet with our counterparts in the House, the House will also announce the composition of the conference committee.

We hope that they will swing into action immediately, so that we are able to have the final document of the PIB which we will transmit for the presidential assent.

“So, we expect our delegation here under the leadership of the Senate Leader to engage with our colleagues in the House of Representatives.”

July 6, 2021
NEITI commends NASS on passage of PIB

The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has welcomed with excitement, the bold step by both chambers of the National Assembly to pass the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).

NEITI gave the commendation in a statement signed by Obiageli Onuorah its Head, Communications and Advocacy, in Abuja, on Thursday.

She quoted the Executive Secretary of NEITI Dr Orji Ogbonnaya Orji as describing the decision of the Senate and the House of Representatives to consider the Bill as priority resulting in its eventual passage as bold, courageous and progressive.

According to Orji, NEITI as an agency set up to enthrone transparency and accountability in the management of extractive industries in Nigeria has demonstrated genuine and legitimate interest in the PIB from the onset.

“NEITI’s interest is in view of the urgency and strategic importance of a new law to replace the existing archaic legislation that have aided huge revenue losses, impeded transparency, accountability and investment opportunities in the nation’s oil and gas industry,’’ he said

He recalled that as an anti-corruption agency in the sector, NEITI boldly alerted the nation through a special Policy Brief “The urgency of a new petroleum sector law” that the current stagnation of investment opportunities in the Petroleum Industry was as a result of the absence of a new law for the sector.

This. He said has led to huge revenue losses to the tune of over 200 billion dollars.

“In that publication which was widely circulated, NEITI argued that the “revenue losses were as a result of investments withheld or diverted by investors to other (more predictable) jurisdictions.”

“The publication added that “The hedging by investors stems from the expectation that the old rules would no longer apply, but not knowing when the new ones would materialise.

“In addition, NEITI Reports in the sector had also disclosed that over 10.4billion and N378.7billion were lost through under-remittances, inefficiencies, theft or absence of a clear governance framework for the oil and gas industry,’’ he added.

The NEITI Executive Secretary noted that he was optimistic that with the new governance law for the industry, these huge revenue losses to the nation as a result of process lapses and outright stealing would be strictly checked if not eliminated.

“The implementation of the global Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative which Nigeria is a key signatory, have over the years been frustrated by the absence of a dynamic law that suits modern business modules and trends in the ever evolving oil and gas industry” Orji said.

He expressed the hope that the PIB when assented to by the President will provide a dynamic governance framework required to re-position the Petroleum industry to fully embrace competition, openness, accountability, professionalism and better profit returns on investments to both companies and government.

He added that NEITI and its multi-stakeholders are encouraged that the National Assembly in this particular instance threw politics aside and dealt with the PIB issue with the attention it deserves in over all public interest.

The Executive Secretary also commended the media, the civil society, development partners, industry, stakeholders and experts who have followed the bill in the National Assembly for their valued contributions to what has been achieved so far.

“While NEITI awaits early harmonisation and the details of the contents of the bill as passed and hoping for early Presidential consideration and assent, the transparency agency looks forward to working with its stakeholders in the industry to ensure effective implementation under the global EITI framework,’’ he added.

The PIB, which was first presented at the National Assembly in 2008, is an omnibus law to regulate the entire spheres of the industry.

The bill is intended as a complete overhaul of the Nigerian oil and gas sector seeks to, among others, ensure an increased level of transparency and accountability by strengthening governing institutions to attract investments in the industry.

July 2, 2021