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The National Assembly has tasked President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently send a revised Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) to it for quick consideration.
The call at the opening of a two-day dialogue organised by National Institute for Legislative Studies (NILS) in Abuja on the theme, “Dialogue on Economy, Security and Development”.
Speaking at the occasion, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, stated that PIB failed to scale through third readings in the sixth and seventh assemblies.
However, he said its passage in the eighth assembly had become imperative because of its importance to the survival of the country’s economy.
Dogara added that the earlier the bill was sent to the National Assembly, the faster the chances of its passage.
He said: “We cannot meaningfully discuss the improvement of the national economy without discussing priority legislation in this field. Undoubtedly, one of the most important pieces of legislation is the Petroleum Industry Bill.
“This is necessary because oil and gas still accounts for over 70 per cent of our foreign exchange earnings in spite of the rapid fall in oil prices. We therefore cannot afford not to organise the sector in such a manner as to benefit the nation.
“In this regard, may I call on the president as the Minister of Petroleum to as a matter of urgency transmit a bill to the National Assembly on how his administration intends to reorganise the petroleum sector.
“The PIB has had a checkered history. It was introduced late in the life of the sixth assembly and was not passed. In the seventh assembly, a private members bill was introduced in the first month of that assembly based on the experience of the sixth assembly.
“However, the last administration informally indicated that it would prefer an executive bill on the matter, which took over two years to materialise. It was passed only by the House of Representatives very late in its tenure without the Senate concurring.
“Investment decisions in this field cannot continue to wait. Clarity on the legal framework for oil and gas in Nigeria is crucial to our economy. Contrary to the assertion that the size of the bill is the problem, the fact is that an early introduction will lead to an early passage.”
Also speaking at the occasion, Senate President, Bukola Saraki, said through legislation, the National Assembly would address various factors that have slowed down the country’s growth and development, particularly in the petroleum sector.
Saraki who was represented by his deputy, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, promised that the National Assembly would provide legislative intervention in sectoral areas such as petroleum, agriculture, telecommunications, transport, etc, through bills like the Institutional Restructuring of the NNPC Bill, Market Competition Bill, and Agricultural Credit and Loan Scheme Bill, among others.
“We in the National Assembly are aware of the enormous challenges we face. No doubt, we are aware of dwindling revenues to government but we also see this as an opportunity to look inwards to take advantage of our obviously untapped economic opportunities relying on our people’s knowledge of economics and innovation,” he said.
Participants at the event commended the Senate over its resolution last week which exposed the alleged 1 per cent commission on the software, Remita, used for transfers into the Treasury Single Account (TSA).
In his remarks on the matter, Dogara said the Senate’s resolution had been complied with by both the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and SystemSpecs, owner of Remita.
“Pundits have always raised issues on the effectiveness of motions and oversight functions and the National Assembly’s contributions to the national economy. But just last week, the Senate passed a resolution to investigate the payment of consultants involved in the new TSA administration.
“Twenty four hours later, the CBN ordered the company to return billions of naira which the company has since complied with. This has been achieved by just a single motion; several other examples abound.
“The legislature may be slow but its contribution to our democracy and economic development is assured,” Dogara said.
Speaking further, the speaker called for all expenditure by the ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of the federal government to be captured in a single budget.
This would be a bold and courageous move like the TSA, he said.
“No longer should the income and expenditure of some revenue earning agencies be an ‘attachment’ to the national budget. They should be an integral part of it. It should be part of the aggregate figures that make up the budget.
“Such agencies should include the NNPC, NPA, NIMASA, Customs and Excise, NCC, Federal Inland Revenue Service, etc,” Dogara said.