Seventh parliament: 100 days on seat, where is the PIB?
By Sulaimon Salau
Disappointment, betrayal and unloyalty to national interest will be the best word to describe the intrigues in the seventh National Assembly that has made the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) so elusive. In fact, the faith of the PIB remained unknown, despite the promises of passage.
It is not a gainsaying that the anticipation of the PIB is gradually fading away in the sight of the stakeholders, who seems to be tired and washed about commenting on the petroleum industry reforms bill. However, the spirit of keeping a greater Nigeria is what is keeping them alive on the bill now.
At the resumption of the seventh National Assembly, expectations of Nigerian were high that the new parliament should be able to do finishing touches to the passage of the bill, which was at the peak of passage by the sixth National Assembly. Few days away from marking 100 days on seat, no much positive development is emerging, instead it was an allegation of moves to manipulate the original PIB to suit the interest of some people that envelopes the industry.
This brought to limelight the level of betrayal that may be exhibited by the personalities representing the various tribes and geographical regions of Nigeria at the red seat chamber. One of such was recently unveiled by the Former Chairman of Senate Committee on Petroleum (Upstream), Senator Lee Ledogo Maeba, who recently, let the cat out of the bag on the intrigues that that have stalled the passage of the PIB.
Maeba said the refusal to scrap the Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF), Petroleum Product Price Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), both government agencies, as prescribed by the PIB was an issue to contend with.
The senator however lamented that some people have taken personal interest above national interest, which is likely to do a lot of havoc to the continued growth of the petroleum industry.
Maeba, who was among the senators that championed the bill in the senate during the administration of the sixth national assembly felt bad for the country, for not been able to achieve that single objective after several years.
He lamented, “the competition in the Gulf of Guinea is very high now, and we are not in the competition, all the major investments are diverted from Nigeria, which the implication is that the oil industry will eventually collapse.
“I think it is very important for us to have a political will from all the stakeholders, the senate, the house and the president, everybody must exercise very serious political will to pass the PIB.
“Besides, there must be a spirit of unfolding the national interest, above all private or personal interest and it is equally very important to tell the representatives that when any of them goes home, they must try to educate people in their locality about the importance of national interest,” he said.
“The kind of situation we face in the last days of the PIB is a satiation that should not happen in the parliament, where people insist on issues like allowing Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF), Petroleum Product Price Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), exist.
“These are institutions that were deleted by the PIB to pave way for deregulation of the economy, and we believe that deregulation is the best way out.”
He continued, “if institution that regulate the industry are left existing, then the regulation continues and nobody will like to come and invest money in a place where you build a refinery and produced a product, then government will now tell you how much to sell the product, it is not of any business interest to this country, so I believe that these are critical issues other political issues must be resolved by stakeholders before the national assembly reconvene. And I believe the PIB at its current state (at the end of the sixth national assembly) is the best that can happen to Nigeria because every interest has been accommodated.”
Also, The Nigeria Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has warned that Nigeria will lose $3 billion petroleum revenue yearly if the National Assembly passes the PIB as amended by lawmakers.
NEITI said the limit of government’s share of oil revenue being set by the House of Representatives is below internationally competitive rates, as such, it would result in the erosion of government petroleum revenue. It said: “This is dangerous to our already fragile economy that is oil revenue dependent.”
NEITI however made the urgent call on the Federal lawmakers for protection of the national interest in the on-going PIB debate by the National Assembly because it appears that some crucial facts and data were either not presented to the members or if made available, were not thoroughly understood by them to enable them to make informed decisions on the PIB.
“For instance, NEITI does not see the rationale for passing a Bill that is designed to reduce government’s revenue from petroleum operations by minimum of $3 billion annually through fiscal provisions.”
“NEITI is therefore, of the view that if the NASS passes the bill as it is now, the Nigerian oil and gas sector will be in serious danger of not achieving the desired national goals of promoting greater indigenous participation and increased revenue generation for national development.
“In view of the fact that oil is the mainstay of the Nigerian economy, the NASS owes all Nigerians a responsibility to promote Nigeria’s interest in the bill, protect our corporate sovereignty and secure the future of generations yet unborn. The Report of the PIB now before the NASS, if passed into law, will do havoc to Nigeria’s national interest.”
The Presidency also, last week began a count down to President Goodluck Jonathan’s 100 days in office, with a declaration that one of the president’s achievements was Nigeria’s recovery of her place as the highest exporter of crude oil in Africa.
The government announced that Nigeria had again overtaken the Republic of Angola in oil production, following the return of peace to the troubled Niger Delta. Good as these so-called achievements are, the stakeholders have queried the government’s interest in the passage of the PIB that is expected to reposition the petroleum industry.
Nigeria currently produces about 2.4 million barrels per day (bpd) up from about 1.8 million bpd at the behest of the crisis in the Niger Delta.
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr Reuben Abati, said the sharp rise in oil production had again put the country as the second largest oil exporter in the world, next to Saudi Arabia.
He said: “Boosted by the overwhelming success of the amnesty programme of the current administration, Nigeria’s oil production expanded by 20 per cent and she reclaimed her foremost position as Africa’s largest oil exporter, which she had hitherto lost to Angola.
“Nigeria sets a new record by being recognized by OPEC in July as the second largest oil exporter in the cartel, second only to Saudi Arabia. It is the first time Nigeria has recorded such a feat, he added.
