Senate begins final passage of PIB with public hearing

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By Femi SHODUNKE
NIGERIA: THE Senate is set to begin the public hearing on the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIB), which passed second reading last Tuesday.

The PIB governance legislation, which has been stalled under previous successive lawmakers, has reached its farthest stage in 16 years.

The Bill, that the Senate said it will begin work on it Wednesday, December 7, establishes the process for breaking the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) into two commercial entities, which will be limited by shares.

The two entities will be known as the National Petroleum Company and the National Assets Management Company.

Once the PIB is passed and signed into law, Nigeria will have the necessary legislative framework that is needed to ensure the creation and sustainability of commercially-oriented and profit-driven entities that makes possible value addition and the internationalization of Nigeria’s petroleum industry.

Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, who spoke ahead of the public hearing, commended his colleagues for keeping their foot on the gas in their quest to pass legislation that would grow Nigeria’s economy and create jobs.

“I must say, I am proud to be associated with an institution like the 8th Senate that has backed its words with its actions,” Saraki said in a news release by his Media Office.

“When we passed the Senate’s Economic Legislative Agenda a few months ago, we said that we would make the elusive PIB one of our priorities. By bringing it to the public hearing stage, we have done this,” he stressed.

The Senate also said: “Though we have come this far, we cannot afford to take our foot off the gas.  We must ensure that we expedite the work of the Committee after this public hearing, in order to make sure that the PIB is signed, sealed and delivered for the benefit of the Nigerian public early in 2017.”

The PIB public hearing will be held on Wednesday and Thursday in the Senate New Wing of the National Assembly Complex.

The hearings will be conducted by the Committee on Upstream Petroleum, which is chaired by Senator Donald Omotayo Alasoadura.

The Senate is set to also introduce a Host Community legislation to complement the Governance and Institutional Framework Bill in the coming weeks.

This Bill, the Senate Media Office said, is aimed at addressing issues relating to community participation, security, and the ecological debt incurred by host communities from oil extraction.