By Banji Ayoola
Barely 72 hours after he signed the Petroleum Industry Act, President Muhammadu Buhari has signaled off the new law, as he approves a steering committee to oversee its execution.
In a statement on Wednesday by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, government said: “The primary responsibility of the steering committee shall be to guide the effective and timely implementation of the PIA in the course of transition to the petroleum industry envisaged in the reform program, and ensure that the new institutions created have the full capability to deliver on their mandate under the new legislation.”
“The committee has 12 months duration for the assignment, and periodic updates will be given to Mr President.”
According to the statement, the Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, will head the committee.
Other members of the committee are the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources; Group Managing Director, NNPC; Executive Chairman, FIRS; Representative of the Ministry of Justice; Representative of the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning; Senior Special Assistant to the President on Natural Resources; Barrister Olufemi Lijadu as External Legal Adviser; while the Executive Secretary, Petroleum Technology Development Fund, will serve as Head of the Coordinating Secretariat and the Implementation Working Group.
Earlier on Wednesday at a meeting with the leadership of the National Assembly, the President had eapproved the Implementation Framework for the newly signed Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), 2021. He also named Sylva as head the Steering Committee that will drive the implementation process.
In a brief speech during the ceremony, which preceded the week’s virtual Federal Executive Council meeting, the President described the passage of the PIB into law as the “end of decades of uncertainty and under-investment in the petroleum industry.
“To consolidate the commitment of this administration to delivering the value proposition of this law, I have approved an implementation framework commencing immediately to ensure the industry envisaged in the new law begins to take shape.
“The implementation process to be headed by the Hon Minister of State, Petroleum Resources is hereby tasked with the completion of the implementation of this act within 12 months. I am therefore directing all relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government to fully cooperate in ensuring the successful and timely implementation of this law.
“Let me now commend the leadership of the 9th Assembly for their continued pursuit of our national aspiration and demonstration of mutual harmony with the Executive in the pursuit of a patriotic outcome in the passage of the PIB.
“I also commend the entire team in the executive that worked tirelessly to ensure the delivery of this strategic legislation for our country
“I thank Nigerians and other industry stakeholders for their contributions and support in achieving this historic landmark,” the President said.
Speaking to State House Correspondents after the brief ceremony, Senate President Ahmad Lawan, cautioned against tampering or manipulation in the disbursement of the 3% host communities’ provided for by the Act by the appointed people, while urging prudent deployment of the money, specifically earmarked to engender development in the host communities and end their sufferings.
He also urged Nigerians to defocus on the grievances as a result of the new act but remain optimistic that the act (which can be amended) will be implemented.
He also expressed confidence that the PIA will add further incentives to greater investment in the sector.
How PIB became Law
President Buhari had on Monday signed the controversial Petroleum Industry Bill 2021 into law, implying that he accepts the three per cent allocation to petroleum hosting communities which had stalled the passage of the bill in July after over a decade.
This came weeks after the National Assembly passed the bill amid heated debates
The signing was confirmed by the President’s spokesperson, Adesina, who said in a statement that the president signed the bill at his home where he is observing a five-day “quarantine as required by the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19 after returning from London on Friday August 13”.
He said that “…the President assented to the Bill Monday August 16, in his determination to fulfill his constitutional duty,” adding that: “The ceremonial part of the new legislation will be done on Wednesday, after the days of mandatory isolation would have been fulfilled.”
The Senate had passed the bill on July 15 while the House of Representatives followed suit on July 16. The act is expected to replace the obsolete Petroleum Act of 1969.
The PIB was first brought to the National Assembly in 2008 but it faced several obstacles while undergoing numerous revisions and debates.
There was some progress in 2015 when the House of Representatives passed a version, but it didn’t go through at the Senate.
In 2015, the Buhari administration proposed passing the PIB in various segments, forming four separate bills (Petroleum Industry Governance Bill, Fiscal Regime Bill, Upstream and Midstream Administration Bill, Petroleum Host Communities Bill).
A hot debate at the National Assembly over allocation to host communities last month typified the contentious nature of the bill.
Now 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 contentious bill had remained at the National Assembly for more than a decade, with successive sessions of the Senate and House of Representatives failing to approve its provisions of sweeping reforms for the oil and gas sector.
Its eventual passage on July 15 was dimmed by a controversy over the allocation of three per cent revenue to host communities in the Niger Delta, while a fund for the exploration of oil in frontier basins, mostly in northern states, received 30 per cent.
This quota, considered grossly unjust, was rejected by the Southern Governors’ Forum and leaders of the South-south region, including a former minister and prominent leader in the Niger Delta, Edwin Clark.
Besides, representatives of the area had demanded 10 per cent, or in the minimum, five per cent as earlier passed by the House of Representatives.
But the National Assembly leadership under the Senate president, Ahmad Lawan, brushed aside the concerns and harmonised the bill, ready for presidential assent.
But oil producing communities, Niger Delta groups and human rights bodies had reacted reacted to the signing into law of the PIB by the president, describing the law as unjust.
South-South N’Assembly members ignored their people, voted for party – Gov’s aide
The Chairman of the South-South Governors’ Forum and Governor of Delta State, Ifeanyi Okowa, blamed the National Assembly members from the region for the three per cent approved for the oil-producing communities.
Okowa, who spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Olise Ifeajika, said, “They (South-South National Assembly members) went partisan. They went political and voted where their party wanted them to vote, throwing away the well-being of their people.
“It is unfortunate; so, it is not for the governors. If it were for the governors, they would have done it the other way round. It is a matter of law and they are the lawmakers the people voted for to go there and protect their interests; but they failed instead.
“Of course, Delta State has three senators in the National Assembly representing the people; so, Mr President was right to have said the law is the making of all Nigerians, because every local government area is represented in the National Assembly and they passed the bill.
“The PIB has nothing to do with the governors. It is the people, especially the oil producing areas, though the governors are part of the people. So, the way it will affect every other person in the area, it is the same way it will affect the governors.
“If anybody is to be blamed, it is the lawmakers, especially those from oil producing areas. It is regrettable that our own people left the integrity of the bill, left the yearnings of their people and went partisan to support the bill at the detriment of their people.
“Delta State alone has three senators; only one senator voted in favour of the yearnings of his people; in other words, he was against the others, while the two senators because they are in the APC voted for the three per cent against the yearnings of their people.
“If the people are going to hold anyone accountable, they should hold the lawmakers, particularly those from the Niger Delta’s oil-producing areas that voted for the three per cent.”
He added, “If they had dropped partisanship and saw the will of the people, who sent them there to represent them as important, it wouldn’t have been like that.
“We saw how Ndudi Elumelu led the minority caucus of the House of Representatives out of the chamber. We didn’t see such at the Senate, so it is a matter of our people failing us. They politicised the matter at the expense of the wish and well-being of the oil-bearing communities.”
Ifeajika said if the lawmakers had listened to the voice of their people and protected their interest and removed the issue of party, they would have voted against the three per cent and maybe the bill would not have been ready to be signed.
The Ijaw Youth Council also condemned the presidential assent given to the PIB.
The spokesman for the IYC, Ebilade Ekerefe, in an interview with The PUNCH, said the signing of the PIB into law by Buhari could not been in response to the yearnings of a majority of Nigerians after the overwhelming public outcry that greeted its passage by the National Assembly.
“The signing of the PIB into law is a total affront to the outcry of the people of the Niger Delta region. President Muhammadu Buhari has further dropped in the rating of the Niger Delta people and should not expect any accolades and congratulatory messages from the region,” he stated.
Buhari bowed to majority wish in signing the bill – Presidency However the Presidency on Tuesday maintained that Buhari bowed to majority wish in signing the PIB into law, saying he was being responsive to the yearning of the majority of Nigerians.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, who stated this in an interview, told critics of the new law that it was still open to amendments.
Nevertheless, the South-South Governors’ Forum blamed lawmakers from the region for the three per cent allocated to oil producing communities.
Recall that stakeholders had kicked against the three per cent approved in the new petroleum law by the National Assembly for the oil-bearing communities.
The Senate had earlier approved three per cent for the oil-bearing communities, while the House of Representatives approved five per cent.
But the approval of three per cent by the joint committee of the National Assembly generated angry reactions from the Niger Delta communities, which urged the President not to sign the bill into law.
But despite the opposition from the Niger Delta, Buhari signed the bill on Monday.
Explaining the President’s action, Shehu said the legislation was open to review and amendments.
One of our correspondents had asked the presidential aide why Buhari ignored opposition to the three per cent host communities’ fund and signed the bill.
Shehu described the law as the making of all Nigerians and not that of the President alone.
He appealed to those who were faulting the law to follow the right channels to effect the right changes as the law was not set in stone.
He said, “The law is the making of all Nigerians and not the President alone. It is not cast in stone; it can be changed.
“As we move forward, there can even be more aspects of the law that recommend themselves to review.
“Nothing in that law is cast in stone. On a need basis, the law can be revised and if need be, amended.
“Even the constitution of the Republic is today undergoing a review. Let us give peace a chance and work through the democratic process to get what we want.”
Shehu added that the new law had a more positive value for the country.
He said by signing the law, the President was not being insensitive, but responsive to the yearnings of Nigerians.
“The President is not being insensitive. Instead, he is being responsive to the yearning of the majority of Nigerians,” he stated.
The presidential aide added that the law held so much promise for Nigerians, who should focus on the positive aspects.
He said, “The law contains so much positive value for the industry and the country. These good things should not be held hostage by contentious issues.
“Let us focus on the positives. We need not wait any longer. Let us make progress.”
