By Nairaland Forum Delta state born Hon. Ben Igbakpa, a member of House Representatives representing Ethiope East/Ethiope West constituency has this to say about the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).
The Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) is a significantly protracted Bill. Indeed, I can understand the backlash and disappointment that followed its passage at @nassnigeria. I share the same sentiments and given my inside knowledge; I can express my perspective.
#Thread #PIB
True, the house of Reps passed the bill at 5% allocation for the host communities. But that is not the whole story. In fact, so much of the arguments and back-channel lobbying to get this bill to where it is today can not be exhaustively explained in a summarized form.
Legislation is very tedious, more so, when it concerns resource allocation and revenue appropriation. Lawmakers always try to blur the lines btw the expectations of the people and the reality of interests. Not quite easy when interest is permanent and expectations are undulating.There are calls for the head of lawmakers from the Niger Delta particularly alleging that we did not do enough to impress the expectations of our people. That would have been a wild guess if I wasn’t aware of efforts put in by factions of the ND caucus in the national assembly.
The past few years have witnessed dramatic changes in the oil and gas industry. Currently in Nigeria, only @TotalEnergies is active across all streams of the oil and gas sector. Many companies are still struggling to operate in a badly affected oil and gas industry.
The focus of the PIB is to serve as a legal framework to decide the obligations of the Oil and Gas companies (including NNPC) and the Nigerian state (especially the host communities). The spelt out obligations also include a responsibility to ensure the survival of the companies.
The PIB is not perfect. No law in the world is perfect. PIB a relatively new pledge for ordering the intersecting affairs of all stakeholders – companies, the Nigerian state, and the Nigerian people. However, the bill has verified the byline of conflicting interests.
There is also the vague definition of “Host Communities”. I have always expressed the need for clarity on this because when a law is difficult to interpret, it leaves loops for technicalities and affords the discretion to misapprehend.What constitutes a host community is an area I am uncomfortable with.
For many reasons, we all desire transparency in the @NNPCgroup Read MoreSource:: Nigerian Chatter
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