The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) and other stakeholders in the nation’s oil and gas industry have described President Buhari’s veto of the Petroleum Industry and Governance Bill (PIGB) as not in the nation’s interest.
CISLAC in a statement issued by its Executive Director, Auwal Ibrahim Musa, described the President’s action as unfortunate in spite of his promising to reform the oil and gas sector in Nigeria during the election campaigns and repeatedly after his election.
The civil society group expressed its belief that if the government was serious about addressing corruption in oil and gas sector an executive Bill ought to have been sent to the National Assembly early in the life of this administration but this was not done. We note that it took the NASS, taking the initiative though a private member Bill to get the legislation to its current status only for assent to be withheld by the president.
“We are aware that throughout the legislative process, relevant agencies and stakeholders had the opportunity to make input into the Bill during the public hearing and other channels. It is therefore shocking that after all the efforts, time and cost incurred in the passage of the Bill, we are back to where we were as a nation 12 years ago.
“CISLAC finds it worrisome that in spite of the established losses the nation incurs due to the absence of this law, which among other sources, the NEITI put at $200 billion yearly and another $15 billion yearly in fresh investments, the President did not consider it a matter of national importance to assent to the Bill.
“We find it frustrating and disappointing that this government has spent its tenure without properly addressing this key important sector of our economy where corruption, inefficiency, community conflict and sabotage have been institutionalized.
“CISLAC considers this refusal to assent as a big failure on the part of this government and a lost opportunity to reform the sector and transform to meet up with global standards. The President, who is also the minister for Petroleum Resources has only superficial reform to show under his leadership, as he was in the position to muster the political will to drive deeper reforms. We find it even more worrisome that the passage of the Bill had been due since 2016 according to the timeline contained in the 7 Big wins released by the administration”, the group added.
CISLAC also flawed the reasons given by the Presidency on the President’s refusal to sign the bill as lacking merit, and called on the NASS to consider the possibility of overriding the veto of the President as representatives of the Nigerian people, to demonstrate that power truly belongs to the people.
It also charged the Legislature to be undeterred by this development and proceed to conclude legislative action on the other components of the PIB that are still outstanding, as these are also crucial to the welfare of citizens and the nation.
The group also called on both the Executive and Legislature to ensure that they do not allow politics, personality egos and party affiliations to supersede the national interest and potential benefits due to Nigeria and her people from the passage of this all important legislation.
In his remarks, a former President of the International Association for Energy Economics, Prof. Wumi Iledare, recalled that when President Buhari came to power, he said he wanted transparency and accountability, but now failed to assent to a bill that will make the governance of the oil and gas industry transparent and accountable.
Iledare who described the President’s action as not good enough said that his understanding of the bill was that the spending for the Nigerian Petroleum Regulatory Commission will still be by appropriation.
He said: “If the NERC takes more money than is appropriated, they return the rest to the account. I don’t see what is unconstitutional about that.
“I also don’t think it is going to reduce the federation account because it certainly going to make the operation of the industry more efficient. The other argument with respect to fiscal provisions not there, we have a fiscal bill that has passed the second reading supported by the stakeholders”, the industry expert added
Commenting on the President’s action, the Chairman, National PIB Committee of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria and Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, Mr. Chika Onuegbu, said that one thing that remains clear is that the Executive and Legislature were not working together on the PIGB.
According to him, if the two arms of government are working together on the bill right from the public hearing to the point of harmonisation, those issues raised would have been resolved before the transmission of the harmonized bill to the President.
Onuegbu lamented that it was disheartening that the Presidency and the National Assembly failed to close their ranks and resolve things quickly and get the PIB passed into law as recommended by the PENGASSAN and NUPENG, adding that if not for any other thing at least to show that this government is different from past ones.
Similarly, the Chairman, Petroleum Club, Lagos, Mr. Godswill Ihetu, pointed out that any issue that would take the PIB back will be a serious matter and expressed believe that both the Executive and the National Assembly will work hard to resolve some of the issues that made the President to return the Bill to the Legislature.
It would be recalled that the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Ita Enang, had last Wednesday listed some reasons, including the provision of the PIGB which empowered the Petroleum Regulatory Commission to retain as much as 10 per cent of the revenue generated, why the President declined assent to the bill.
