By Teddy Nwanunobi
Reactions have trailed President Muhammadu Buhari’s signing of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) 2021 into law on Monday.
Valuechain reports that the Bill was signed into law by the President 32 days, after the Senate, on Thursday, July 15, passed the harmonised Bill.
Valuechain also recalls that the harmonised Bill was passed amidst protest by senators from the South-South zone.
According to a statement issued in Abuja by Buhari’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, the signing of the Bill is another high for the President’s administration.
“The Petroleum Industry Act provides legal, governance, regulatory and fiscal framework for the Nigerian petroleum industry, the development of host communities, and related matters.
“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, and notching another high for the Buhari administration,” the statement read in part.
Some people, who spoke in favour of the signing of the Bill into an Act, called for all hands to be on deck to move Nigeria’s oil and gas industry forward.
In his reaction to the President’s assent to the Bill, a petroleum economist, Prof. Wunmi Iladare, congratulated “the Presidency and the 9th National Assembly for bringing the wobbling PIB journey since 2000 to an end”.
Iladare expressed confidence that the Act stands a good chance to enhance the oil and gas industry’s value to the economy.
“That the President signed PIB 2020 into law is laudable. It is a noble act that is worthy of euphoric celebration.
“Congratulations to the Presidency and the 9th National Assembly for bringing the wobbling PIB journey since 2000 to an end. I see in the Act, (an) investment friendly fiscal framework with well-designed regulatory and governance institutions.
“The next phase is implementation without regulatory and institutional captures. One can hope for the appointments of competent professionals with diverse work experiences as members of the implementation committee.
“Although, I have no crystal ball, but I am confident the Act stands a good chance to enhance industry value to the economy,” Iladare, who is a Fellow of the United States Association for Energy Economics (USAEE), enthused.
Another industry watcher, Buchi Igwe, called for an improvement.
“(There is) always a first time. Next would also include (improving) the PIB,” he said.
Also reacting to the news, the Publisher of Valuechain oil and gas magazine, Mallam Musa Bashir Usman, expressed satisfaction that there is a starting point.
“Congratulations to oil and gas sector. At least let’s start from somewhere,” he said.
On his part, Jesse Andrawus described the President’s act as an impressive milestone.
“Excellent! (This is) an impressive milestone for the oil and gas industry in Nigeria,” he said.
Speaking against the President’s assent to Bill, Bright Alaribe said that the “South-South people have been played and fooled by signing of this PIB”.
Tuka Loanyie, who described it as a “complete injustice”, urged the host communities to be prepared for the stage of struggle.
“He (Buhari) signed the controversial Bill without resolving the ambiguous rifts in it. This PIB is just a rubber stamp of what the Northerners wanted, and that’s why it’s been passed, just like that.
“We reject this PIB, because it does not scratch where it’s itching our people. We will continue to agitate, because they have not scratched where (it) is itching our people. This is complete injustice. We want the communities to know that the next stage of the struggle has just started, and we will do it (peacefully),” Loanyie said.
Chukwuma Nwamarabia Ike hoped that the Electoral Act should be treated the same way.
“This Bill (PIB) is controversial, already. I guess this is testing the microphone strategy of testing the waters, which is an offshoot of signing the unpopular Electoral Act, which Nigerians (have) rejected for not bearing of electronic transmission of results as one of the innovative ideas,” Ike expressed.
In the statement, Adesina disclosed that the ceremonial part of the new legislation will be done on Wednesday.
“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,” the statement read.
The passage followed the adoption of the conference report on the bill, presented by the Senate leader, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi.
The Red Chamber had, on July 6, constituted conference committee to harmonise PIB, which was passed in June.
PIB, in the version passed by the Senate, provides that three percent of operating expenditure of oil companies (OPEX), estimated at $500 million annually, be channeled to the development of host communities.