PIB: Expert tasks Senate, House of Reps to harmonise positions on percentage to host communities

Against the backdrop of the recent passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) by the National Assembly, an expert in the oil and gas sector, Chief Adegboyega Adegoke, over the weekend charged the Senate and House of Representatives to harmonise their positions on the percentage to the host communities in Niger Delta region.

He said this has become imperative, with a view to avoiding future litigation on the bill by some stakeholders after assent the President Muhammadu Buhari.

Adegoke who is also a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in Oyo State gave the charge while speaking with journalists after he received an award of excellence by the Inner Wheel Club District 913-Nigeria during the investiture of IWM Ojoele-Ayoola Sherifat Bolatito as the 35th chairman.

Adegoke disclosed that part of the grey areas that need to be resolved before the PIB becomes law include 5 per cent recommendation by the House of Representatives, 3 per cent recommendation by the Senate to the host communities as well as the 30 per cent of the NNPC profit earmarked to be spent on the frontier basin for oil and gas exploration.

According to him, “first of all, it is a welcome development because we have been on it for several years, 17 years for that matter, but now we have been able to do something. I want to add that non-passing of the PIB has led to a reduction in investment in the oil and gas sector in Nigeria.

“It is the same oil and gas globally, so if one country is not serious, you will take your money to other countries and that’s what has been happening in Nigeria. Now it is one step forward but there are lots of grey areas in the bill to be addressed.

“There is the need for the House of Representatives and the Senate to meet to harmonise some grey areas. House of Representatives recommended 5 per cent while Senate recommended 3 per cent allocation for the host communities.”

“Another grey area is the recommendation of 30 per cent profit of the NNPC to be spent on frontier basins, which are mainly in the Northern part of the country. This implies that 30 per cent of the NNPC funds will be channelled into looking for oil and gas in those areas.

“To me, it looks somehow in this era of borrowing from China, and that the little NNPC is making, 30 per cent of it they will be spending on oil and gas exploration we are not sure of, even if we get oil from those basins, it cannot be in commercial quantity.

“This money is supposed to be spent on infrastructure, supporting the Niger Delta where the oil is coming from. But all in all, we need political solutions to all these grey areas,” Adegoke stated.

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PIB: Expert tasks Senate, House of Reps to harmonise positions on percentage to host communities