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Group Rejects Buhari Government's Controversial Petroleum Industry Act, Says People Of Region Must Defend Their Rights

The Petroleum Industry Bill was on Monday signed into law by Buhari.

A socio-political organisation in the Niger Delta region, Niger Delta Congress (NDC) has rejected the new Petroleum Industry Act. 

 

The Petroleum Industry Bill was on Monday signed into law by Buhari.

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The group criticised all the politicians who supported the bill, saying it reveals their “obvious tyranny and lack of empathy” for the region.

 

Barrister Ovunda C Eni, the spokesperson for NDC disclosed this in a statement dated Wednesday, 18th August 2021, and obtained by SaharaReporters on Thursday.

 

In the statement titled, ‘Nigeria Delta Congress Statement on the Signing into Law of the Petroleum Industry Bill by President Buhari,’ the group urged the peoples of the region to reject the Act and continually defend their inalienable rights.

 

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, in a statement on Monday, said, President Buhari has signed the Petroleum Industry Bill into Law.

 

“The Petroleum Industry Act provides legal, governance, regulatory and fiscal framework for the Nigerian petroleum industry, the development of host communities, and related matters," he said. 

 

Southern states’ governors among others that have criticised the PIB Act in a communiqué signed by the Governor of Ondo State, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, at end of their July meeting in Lagos, said, “The Forum rejects the proposed 3% and support the 5% share of the oil revenue to the host community as recommended by the House of Representatives;

 

“The forum also rejects the proposed 30% share of profit for the exploration of oil and gas in the basins.”

 

Reacting to the Act yesterday, NDC said, “The Petroleum Industrial Act recently signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari does not come as a surprise to the Niger Delta Congress. It would be incredulous for anyone to think that the different ethnic nationalities of the Niger Delta will assent to a legislation whose very first clause dispossesses the people of their rights to their resources and by extension, lands.

 

“Bearing this in mind, we believe it will be a total waste discussing the contents of the Petroleum Industry Act. Nonetheless, we appreciate revelations on the obvious tyranny and lack of empathy by the majorities for the region, and also the indolent roles played by the political leaders of the Niger Delta region in the preparation and eventual passage of this bill into law.

 

“Consequently, the NDC urges all the various ethnic nationalities of the region to reject the obnoxious law and immediately call for a total restructuring of this country and ensure we protect what is rightfully ours.

 

“We also use this medium to call on all peoples of the Niger Delta to make themselves available for the Niger Delta Peoples Conference holding on the 8th and 9th of October, 2021 in Bayelsa State, Nigeria.”