*APC,
NUPENG, PENGASSAN hail passage
The Senate
on Thursday passed the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill, which seeks
to
unbundle the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and merged its
subsidiaries into a single entity.
The passage
of the bill came 14 years after the Petroleum Industry Bill was drafted and
submitted to the National Assembly.
The PIGB,
formerly known as the Petroleum Industry Bill, had suffered setbacks since 2003
when it was first sent to the National Assembly.
This was
part of the recommendations in the report by the Joint Committee on Petroleum
(Upstream, Downstream and Gas) on the PIGB, which was adopted by the Senate on
Wednesday.
While
presenting the report, Chairman of the committee, who's Chairman of the Joint
Committee on Petroleum, Senator Tayo Alasoadura, said some subsidiaries of NNPC
had also been merged into an entity to be known as the Nigeria Petroleum
Regulatory Commission (NPRC).
President of
the Senate, Bukola Saraki, who presided over the plenary, said the bill had
been in the National Assembly “for many years and we have not been able to pass
it.”
He said a
commitment was made at the beginning of the 8th Senate that the bill would be
passed.
The proposed
NPRC is expected to be a one-stop-shop in the petroleum industry. It will also
be allowed to retain 10 per cent of the revenue it generates as the cost of
collection.
The proposed
entity will be saddled with the responsibility of promoting efficient,
effective, safe and sustainable infrastructural development of the industry,
while ensuring compliance with all applicable laws and regulations governing
the sector.
The
commission will also be in charge of implementation and maintenance of
technical standards, codes and specifications in the industry in line with
global best practices.
Meanwhile,
the APC has commended the Senate for passing the Petroleum Industry Governance
Bill, describing the development as historic.
The party
said the bill had sought to introduce reforms that would ensure greater
transparency and accountability in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.
NUPENG and
PENGASSAN have also commended the Senate for the passage of the PIGB.
They however
said, “The passage of the PIGB, while commendable, will not deliver the full
benefits of the intended reforms except the other aspects of the PIB are also
legislated.”
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