The President of the Senate, Ahmed Lawan, on Monday, promised that the National Assembly would pass the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB before the end of this month.
Lawan, who spoke during the opening session of the 2021 Nigeria International Petroleum Summit in Abuja, said both chambers of the National Assembly were currently concluding work on the bill.
The non-passage of the PIB had dragged on for about 20 years, despite stakeholders’ views that the bill would positively transform the oil and gas sector in Nigeria.
The senate president said lawmakers wanted to be very fair in listening to everyone in order to adequately address the concerns of stakeholders pertaining to the bill.
Lawan said, “In our legislative agenda for 2019-2023 in the 9th Assembly we decided that we must have a better way. We found out that neither the solo effort of the executive nor the solo effort of the legislature could deliver the PIB in the past.
“We now have a better cooperative approach where the National Assembly will work with the administration to conceive the bill through very rigorous consultations and at the end of the day we narrowed down our differences and areas of potential conflict.”
He added, “I think we have been able to achieve that significantly. The speed and commitment the National Assembly has shown in working on the PIB and reaching where we are today shows that we have chosen the right path.
“As I speak, our joint committee of both Senate and the House on the PIB are about to conclude writing the report which will be submitted to both chambers of the National Assembly. Our expectation is that we will pass the PIB within this month of June by the grace of God”
On his part, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, said the PIB as presently conceived, was not intended to drive anyone out of business.
He said, “We are expected to encourage businesses whether foreign, local or community based. But as competing interests try to elbow each other out, it is the role of the National Assembly to look for a balancing Act.
“This is bearing in mind that the most important interest for us is our national interest.”
Gbajabiamila noted that the National Assembly would uphold national interest while considering other competing interests so as to strike a very delicate balance in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.
He assured operators in the sector that the National Assembly would work towards the passage of a bill that would meet the greater expectation of the industry.
