Abuja, Nigeria | – Undue interference and indecision by the Nigerian government and management of the state oil company, the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on the content of the much publicised Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) is the reason why the bill is delayed and not yet passed.
The allegation was raised Monday by the National Assembly House of Representatives through its Committee on Commerce.
The parliament has therefore urged the public not to see the National Assembly as the stumbling block standing in the way of the PIB as it is being made to appear in several quarters.
Chairman of the Commerce Committee, Sylvestre Ogbaga while speaking at a one-day interactive session on investment in Nigeria’s Oil and Gas sector in Abuja said ‘’Nigeria as the largest market in Africa offers unique investment opportunities in refining, storage, transportation and marketing of petroleum, petrochemicals and allied products.
“The Nigerian oil and gas value chain is undergoing a radical transformation following government’s commitment towards the key legislative reforms and aspiration towards firmly becoming the undisputed regional hub for gas based industries such as fertilizers, petrochemical and ethanol”.
He added that although, the legislature would have passed the PIB, it however has faced issues of undue interferences from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) as well as Aso Rock with regard to intermittent review in the composition of the bill.
Reacting to the issue of enabling legislations for the enhancement of oil and gas value chain in Nigeria, Soala Ariweriokuma of the NNPC as well as Chris Kaka of the Chartered Institute of Financial Investment of Nigeria (CIFIN) stressed the need for lawmakers in the country to expedite actions on bringing about relevant legislations that would minimise losses and maximise economic gains in the event of stiff competition occasioned by recent discoveries in the oil and gas sector and the review of tax regime in ways that would be favourable to the economy.
