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We Don't Know When Buhari Will Assent To PIGB – Presidency

But while the country and investors are waiting for the PIGB to become law, stakeholders are pushing for action on the other fractions of the original Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).

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President Muhammadu Buhari is committed to appending his signature to the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB) passed many weeks ago, but it is not certain when he will do so, the Nigerian presidency has said.

“The President is committed, but I cannot confirm when the PIGB will be signed,” Vanguard newspaper quoted Ita Enang, Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters as saying. 

But while the country and investors are waiting for the PIGB to become law, stakeholders are pushing for action on the other fractions of the original Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).

The other fractions of the Bill are the Petroleum Host Community Bill, (PHCB), Petroleum Industry Administration Bill (PIAB) and the Petroleum Industry Fiscal Bill (PIFB).

At a recent forum on the PIB at the University of Port Harcourt, Frank Adigwe, a consultant to the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Upstream) said there will be a need for the amendment of the constitution to confer ownership of petroleum resources on host communities as indicated in the PHCB.

He noted that PHCB can be a game changer in efforts to develop Nigeria’s oil-producing communities as all other initiatives of government in this regard have failed.

According to him, the initiatives have failed because they do not have a direct impact on the communities, citing as an example, the Niger Delta Development Commission.

In his words: “The development objectives of the initiatives have not delivered as intended – Derivation, NDDC, Amnesty, etc.  Derivation and NDDC Act resources conferred on the state governments hardly trickle down to them. They are excluded from direct ownership by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Government’s initiatives marred by poor governance and corruption, exclusion of communities from the development process, host communities do not see themselves as joint-owners and custodians of petroleum assets,” he noted.

The consultant added that failure of the initiatives had over time, resulted in “huge infrastructure and development gaps – Poverty level is not reduced. Feeling of inequality, unfairness and louder agitation, increasing disruption of petroleum operations, fragile peace and heightened insecurity.”

He, therefore, noted that if PHCB becomes law, funding will be made available for the execution of projects for the benefit of the host communities, undertake the infrastructural development of the host communities, facilitate employment opportunities and advance and propagate education and learning.

“These funds will be extended in the provision of empowerment and skills acquisition for the communities,” he said.

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