The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu; and the
Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr.
Maikanti
Baru, appeared to have for a moment on Tuesday set aside their
differences to speak about ways to building a stronger and more efficient
petroleum industry.
The two industry leaders met at a breakout session at the ongoing 23rd
Nigerian Economic Summit and spoke on the controversial Petroleum Industry
Bill.
The two top officials have not been best of friends since last week
Tuesday after a letter Mr. Kachikwu wrote to President Muhammadu Buhari
accusing Mr. Baru of insubordination and corruption surfaced online.
Baru, on the other hand, stirred ripples in the media with his reply in a
showdown that seemed unlikely both officials would come together soon.
However, yesterday, the NNPC GMD, who had spoken on the need for a strong
independent regulator without any political interference, had an ally in
Kachikwu, who agreed that an industry regulator should be insulated from
politics.
The minister stated that the government was working to ensure an improved
bill that would eventually be passed and meet the aspirations of stakeholders.
He said, “We are still working to make it better. By the time the Senate
and the entire National Assembly finishes what they are doing, we are going to
see a much stronger and a much larger independent regulator.
“Whatever model of the PIB that we are pushing, the point that Dr. Baru
made is very, very key to see an independent regulator with very enormous
powers, with less of political interference so that individuals can do their
work and also whittling down the powers of the minister so that these
institutions can work and work well.
“The reality is that no one will work as a minister forever. You are
going to hand over that portfolio. We should be looking for the system
surviving and being able to work well. So it’s something that we are working
with the National Assembly very hard on and I think if you look at the issues
that come up, there is a lot of emphasis on that independence.”
“The Federal Government will develop policies that ensure that the global
decline in fossil energy does not take Nigeria unawares. The government is already
thinking in that direction. The Federal Government is currently dealing with
the fundamentals of ensuring that the refineries work, and ensuring
availability of energy sources to meet our day to day energy needs.
“The NNPC will have to take over the commercial aspects, because they are
going to be the one deploying it. As the refineries get kitted up, we will
continue to look at new fossil development programmes, and will see a need to
pump out policies that will enable Nigerians see the advantages in terms of
costs.”
Responding to the issues raised on marginal fields, Kachikwu said that
the government was determined to ensure transparency in the bidding process.
“These are some of the issues that the Niger Delta communities are always
inquiring about; and indeed all Nigerians. The more transparent it is, the
better for us. We are developing models to ensure better regulations geared
towards transparency in the bidding process, and we will alert Mr. President as
soon as we are done,” he added.
Baru had in his remarks on the marginal fields said that only nine out 14
of those who won the last bidding process were operating the fields, adding
that the development was not good.
Describing this as “not good enough”, Mr. Baru said he was committed to
work closely with the minister to address the concerns and constraints that
hindered the remaining five companies from appropriately operating the marginal
oil fields
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