PIB hearing: Rowdy session as factional chairmen of host communities fight (See Video)

Factional leaders of oil-producing communities otherwise called host communities on Thursday physically assaulted each other during the public hearing on the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) held at the instance of the House of Representatives.

Crisis started after the chairman, Ad-hoc Committee on PIB, Hon Mohammed Monguno ruled that each of the host communities would be allowed to make separate presentations individually, a decision which some of the stakeholders kicked against as they shouted: “no, no, no.”

Few minutes after dousing the tension, one of the traditional rulers in his 60s who wanted to make a presentation on behalf of a faction of the host communities was physically attacked by another factional chairman in his mid-40s.

Some of his supporters who ran towards the elderly traditional ruler asked repeatedly, “Why did you stand up?”

All efforts made by the security personnel from the Nigeria Security Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Sergeant at Arms and Nigeria Police, other stakeholders as well as members of the Ad-hoc Committee, to calm both parties down however proved abortive for over 20 minutes.

After normalcy returned, some of the traditional rulers who made presentations, frowned at the development, urged the leadership of the House of Representatives to ensure that the bill reflects the yearnings and aspirations of the oil-producing communities.

One of the traditional rulers, who spoke under condition of anonymity, described the development as the fallout of the external forces who allegedly induced one of the warring parties to frustrate common position of the host communities during the public hearing.

They also alleged that the oil companies were involved in the drafting of Chapter 3 of the bill, thereby stifling the interests of the oil-producing communities.

Speaking at the sideline of the public hearing, HRH Ovie Monday Whirskey of Idjerhe Kingdom of Delta State, who frowned at the recent call for the scrapping of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), and the neglect of thousands of indigent who were deprived of

employment in the oil companies in breach of local content law.

While noting that the bill was designed to impoverish the Niger Delta region, Whirskey urged all the state governments in the oil-producing region to enforce the extant laws including the 13 per cent Derivation Fund for the development of the region.

On his part, Inibehe Effiong, Niger Delta Dialogue, think tank of the Pan Niger Delta Elders Forum (PANDEF) accused the Ad-hoc Committee of depriving the host communities and civil society organisations from the Niger Delta region the opportunity to air their views, as

applicable to the oil companies.

“One, the governance structure of the PIB give to much emphasis to the oil companies and very little role is given to the oil-producing communities themselves. Even in the definition of host communities, the PIB is silent and it seems to simply said that oil companies have got the right to decide who are a host community is.

“This is a recipe for crisis. There is no structure for a peaceful resolution and we came here state clearly that there is need for us to have a forum created by law that allows people who feel aggrieved to air those grievances that were not mentioned.”

In his presentation, Chairman Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Elias Mbam who supported some parts of the intendment of the bill, however, observed that the “bill did not make reasonable provision on inflow of revenue to the federation. If we have NNPC Limited that is talking about dividends which may come once a year, how we guarantee a continuous inflow of revenue monthly into the Federation Account.

“Secondly, we are aware that all revenue from Hydrocarbons is a revenue item of the Federation Account but where taxes are deducted from Hydrocarbon revenue, it is the same thing as encroaching on the Federation Account. So we expect that the Bill should not be to the disadvantage of monthly revenue to the Federation Account.

“On the host community funds, the Commission is totally in support of the establishment of community funds. Our concern is the source of the fund. There is subsisting law which has provided 13% to address issues that are related to community funding. We feel that the source of fund should be from that 13 per cent.”

In his remarks, Minister of State for Finance, Budget and National Planning, Clem Agba underscored the need to ensure the sustainability of revenue generation.

“We are moving the right direction with the PIB but it is important that as much as we want to protect today’s revenue we should look at sustainability. We should look at how revenue streams will continue to flow over the years and these are areas from the Ministry of

Finance that is looking at because we don’t want to get all the money today and lose tomorrow’s money.

While expressing the concerns of oil-bearing communities, Ken Henshaw on behalf of Social Action and Key Civil Society Organisations, argued that the provisions in the PIB “would promote environmental impunity in the oil industry and exacerbate social dislocation in the oil-bearing communities in the Niger Delta.

He further alleged that the “manner the National Assembly has handled host communities and civil society contributions in these hearings as deliberately aimed at ensuring those critical voices are not heard. As the Petroleum Industry Bill is critical to the functionality of the oil and gas sector and the Nigerian economy, it is of utmost importance that all stakeholders are treated equally and accorded the same opportunity to discuss its contents and proposal.

“We are also profoundly concerned about the limited number of days and hours allocated to the Public Hearings on the PIB. Each day’s session lasts between 10 am and 1 pm. On the average, only about three hours are spent on the hearings each day, amounting to only six hours of public hearings in both houses of the legislature. To say the least, this is grossly inadequate and does not indicate a commitment to aggregating and considering all views.

He also argued that the proposal for a host communities development fund as encapsulated in the PIB “does not support the participation of the communities in decision making. The governance structures propose for the host communities fund deliberately deny any meaningful level of community participation while overtly promoting oil companies; control and prominence. Oil companies described as ‘Settlors’ in the Bill are empowered to set up the Board of Trustees of the Trusts and conduct needs assessment and produce development plans on behalf of host communities. We believe that the level of emphasis on oil companies could fuel oil industry divide-and-rule tactics and stoke communal conflicts.

“It is also important to note that environmental pollution concerns are almost entirely ignored as the Executive Bill focuses more on production and commercial viability of the industry.

“The PIB 2020 disempowers federal and state environmental agencies from the monitoring and enforcement of environmental regulations in the petroleum industry. While Nigeria records the highest and unacceptable levels of crude oil spills globally, and the country is among the worst in gas flaring globally, the PIB 2020 fails woefully in addressing these issues. There is no clear provision for addressing environmental pollution and sanctioning polluters. The Bill fails to introduce any new measures to encourage the elimination of routine gas flaring.”

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