As Nigerians await the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, David Odama of our
Politics Desk examines ways of adding value to the various steps being taken by the Federal
government to ensure proper legislation for Nigerian peop
THE PETROLEUM Industry
Bill, also known as the PIB is
a draft bill that is intended to
give Nigeria and Nigerians
control over the oil sector of
the country.
The Bill, which emanates from many
years of debates and consultations on
the impact of petroleum on the nation.
Polity and society have shown that the
management of the oil industry has
been characterised by opacity and lack
of transparency, which has led to corruption
and social unrests in the Niger Delta
and other parts of the country.
In order to ensure transparency and
accountability in the oil and gas sector
of the Nigeria economy for the overall
interest of the populace, Nigerians have
agreed on the speedy passage of the PIB.
The Nigerian Petroleum Sector reform
started as far back as the year 2000, this
has culminated in the new PIB of July,
2012. The PIB, when passed, would help
revive the oil and gas sector which is the
main pillar of the Nation’s economy. It
will also help to diversify the economy
by helping the efficient utilisation of resources
derived from petroleum for the
provision of infrastructure that can support
the growth of agriculture, technology,
entertainment, education, health etc.
The passage of the bill will promote the
development of Nigerian content in the
petroleum industry. It will optimise domestic
gas supplies, particularly for power
generation and industry development.
In the new version of this bill, several
issues have been raised by experts, commentators,
members of the Legislature
and non-state actors. The most salient
of these issues revolve round five core issues.
Examining these issues and resolving
them can produce a law that when
passed shall make the petroleum industry
beneficial to all Nigeria both now and
in the future.
The concerns raised include the following
complementary, which deals with the
issue that the PIB should be complementary
to other legislations and regulations
with direct or indirect bearing on the
whole process of petroleum resources
exploitation.
Such laws include the National Oil and
Gas Policy, the Fiscal Responsibility Act,
the Public Procurement Act, the Freedom
of Information Act, the Mines and Minerals
Act, Nigerian Content management
Bill, etc.
The transparency, accountability and
confidentiality clauses in the PIB international
best practices, such that contracts,
licensing and other provisions can be carried
out openly. Norway has been touted
as one of the world’s best examples of
best practice in oil industry processes and
Nigeria can learn from their process.
Equally with the 10% proposed Petroleum
Host community Fund should be
situated in another bill that would cover
all host communities of extractives within
the country, this would give a holistic
perspective to the PIB within the general
regulatory frameworks that exist in the
extractive industries in Nigeria.
The power of the Minister of Petroleum
and the discretionary powers of the President
as contained in the bill should be and
distinctively clarified. The bill empowers
the Minister to coordinate and supervise
all activities in the petroleum industry,
including powers to grant, amend, renew,
extend or revoke upstream and downstream
petroleum licenses and leases.
Draft law which stipulates that the Minister
of Petroleum Resources only gets
the approval of the President should be
clearly defined to avoid its abuse.
There is need to critically look at the provisions
as contained in the bill to ensure
that they meet the hopes, needs and aspirations
of Nigeria people and not a select
few. There is also the need to address
the potential losses of jobs as a result of
the changes that will take place in the Oil
and Gas Sector. The bill should ensure the
protection o health, safety and the environment
in the course of petroleum operations.
Many Nigerian agree that the Petroleum
Industry Bill has some provisions on key
principles targeted at improving transparency
in the petroleum industry such as
the application of the Nigerian Extractive
Industries Transparency Initiative (NEIT)
principles, the removal of confidentiality
on financial and other data, and a clear
and open process for the award of petroleum
rights. Nevertheless, as a result of the
five core concerns raised, it is important
that all stakeholders strive to realise this
lofty ideal. It is believed that members of
the public, the media, and members of the
National Assembly have specific roles to
play.
Ultimately, this bill and the law that
comes from it should be useful to the average
Nigerian. Effect of positive change in
the issues raised above should become an
agent of change through our participation
in Public hearings at the various avenues
as announced by the National Assembly,
these will be the opportunities to make
submissions to the Legislators who will be
meeting with Nigerians across the Monitor,
the newspapers and broadcast media
to know when there is a public hearing.
As representatives of the people, the National
Assembly has the responsibility to
sample the interests of those they represent
and reflect their views in the bill before
become an act.
Members of the National Assembly
should do the following parts finding
through monitoring of international oil
companies (IOCs) to ensure that they do
not thwart the will of the people through
any corrupt practice or by subterfuge.
They should be reminded of their patriotic
position to defend the interest of Nigerians
and even the future generation.
Commit the will of the people into the final
draft of the legislation. As they receive
opinions from the public, they should ensure
that every opinion counts in determining
the provisions of the law that will
serve the best interest of Nigeria and its
peoples.
Can PIB take Nigeria to the next level?
To ensure speedy passages of the PIB,
NASS should ensure that speedy passage
of the PIB into an Act which can be tested
and modified when and if necessary.
As the Nation’s conscience, the media
should be ready to set agenda for the
nation. Media practitioners should give
room for constant discussion of this very
important issue which has the potential of
changing the course of this country. They
should ensure that their editorials and editorial
policies reflect the concerns raised
at the beginning of this short message.
Create platforms for interaction with
policy makers as this policy might be inaccessible
to the generality of the citizens,
the media can create access to them via
radio and TV programmes and allowing
audience participation through phone and
social media channels.
Civil society organisations ought to give
incisive interventions that can drive the
conversion for all parties. They can therefore
do the following
Create common positions for or advocacy
in spite of the multiplicity of positions on
the PIB, CSOs should have a harmonised
position on the bill so as to engage an expert
to critically examine the fiscal issues
associated with the PIB, and recommend
policies that are in line with international
best practices in the sector
Assist NASS with reports and expertise:
In view of their specialised study of the
issues, CSOs should offer their expertise
to the various committees involved in
finalising the PIB, as well as channeling
the views of disadvantage and otherwise
inaccessible groups into the pool of opinion
at the NASS mobilise and organizs:
CSOs should speak up and condemn any
attempts or act to manipulate the process
of making the PIB beneficial to the generality
of Nigerians. They should therefore
create platforms for educating the citizens
to engage the PIB and also support citizens
to attend the various pu