The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Monday, said that President Muhammadu Buhari showed his contempt for oil-producing communities by signing the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) into law despite the outcry against it.
The party berated the president for ignoring such outcry by Nigerians across the board not to sign “the offensive, repugnant and anti-people” PIB as passed by the National Assembly, into law.
This is contained in a statement issued by Kola Ologbondiyan, National Publicity Secretary in which it noted that the signing of the law, “despite widespread public rejection, amounts to an endorsement of imposition and further confirms that President Buhari and his All Progressives Congress (APC) have no iota of respect for the people as well as the tenets of democracy as a system of government.”
The party argued: “By his action, President Buhari has only authenticated that he is not a listening leader and that the APC and its leaders are only out to trample on the will of Nigerians for their selfish interests.
“In putting his hands to endorse the obnoxious bill, even with its distasteful, paltry and provocative 3 per cent revenue to oil-producing communities, President Buhari and the APC have again displayed disdain and insensitivity to the sufferings of the people of the Niger Delta.”
The PDP posited that “such is the height of contempt to oil-producing communities, particularly in the face of the challenges which they face as a result of oil exploration.”
The PDP said the president could have returned the bill to the National Assembly with a request that it is made to address the demands of the oil-producing communities.
The opposition expressed fears that the new law cannot guarantee the desired stability and development in the oil and gas sector as well as respite in the Niger Delta region.
“If anything, the Act as signed by President Buhari is a dangerous recipe for avoidable crisis in the sector,” it dated.
The PDP called on President Buhari to salvage the situation by immediately forwarding an amendment bill to the National Assembly to reflect the true wishes and aspirations of every segment of our nation.
While calling for calm across the country, particularly the South-South geo-political zone, the PDP also charged lawmakers elected on its platform to be at alert even as preparation must be commenced for an urgent amendment to this law.
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