Stakeholders in the energy sector have given reasons why the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) cannot be passed now by the National Assembly.
They said the document is complex and touches on too many issues that could have been addressed systematically instead of lumping them into one single piece.
They advised those concerned with the bill to decouple it and deal with every section in it separately for the purpose of handling the issues contained therein
properly.
They also said the bill in its present form is toxic, noting that it is good that it is not passed yet.
The stakeholders, who spoke at the launch of the Nigeria Natural Resources Charter in Lagos, said that lumping everything in the oil and gas industry together in one document is not the best thing to do.
Gbite Adeniji, a Lagos based lawyer, said he would be surprised if the PIB is passed in its present form, saying that technical and politically sensitive issues are contained in it.
The document, he said, should focus more on different aspects of the petroleum industry such as the fiscal regime and how the industry could be effectively regulated.
He said the fiscal regime in the PIB was the one that was put in place in 2003.
“The thinking in the PIB is that of 2003”, he stated, noting further that the fiscal regime should be such that it should be able to recognise the dynamism in the prices
of crude oil.
According to him, the 10 percent for host communities that is embedded in the PIB is an issue that should have been handled constitutionally.
Akpan Ekpo, a former vice chancellor, University of Calabar, said that Nigeria does not need the PIB to restructure its oil and gas industry or Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), adding that even when the bill is decoupled the level of political interference in the industry by government officials would
still not allow it to work the way it should.
The bill, he said, would still have a lot of interests to contend with, noting that “if it is passed and there is no commitment from the government to carry out the
reforms the situation would still be the same”.
Tunde Ladner, who spoke at the event, stated that there is no desire by both the legislative and executive arms of government to change the status quo in the oil and
gas industry, noting that the government has no political will to carry out the much desired reforms in the sector.
Adeola Adenikinju, a professor of energy economics at the University of Ibadan, said, however, that stalling the passage of the bill will cost the country a lot in terms of investments and revenue.
