… Say internal mechanism be adopted to mend perceived grey areas
By Uthman Salami
Critical stakeholders in the oil and gas industry have disagreed with the position of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) over the newly assented Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), now Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) by President Muhammadu Buhari earlier this week.
The Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) had earlier sent a letter, on August 10, 2021, to President Muhammadu Buhari over what they termed as “Six Holes” in the then Petroleum Industry Bill(PIB), urging the President to withhold his assent pending the time the National Assemblies would look intothe perceived holes for necessarily remedies.
While describing the then Bill as a disaster, the governors identified some sections of the law they found ludicrous include; 9(4) and (5); 33; 53(2), (3); (4); 54 (1) and (2); 55 (1); and 64(c).
They described the section removing the requirement to transfer payments into the Federation Account as unconstitutional, adding that the interest of the other tiers of government, mostly states, was not considered by the new law.
However, the president of Independent Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Elder Chinedu Okorokwo, while speaking with Nigerian NewsDirect said, the best the Governors could do now that the Bill has been assented to was to utilize internal mechanism to resolve those perceived grey areas.
According to him, there is no legislation that is perfect, urging the governors to seek amendment within the ambit of the law through their Representatives at both National Assemblies.
Elder Okorokwo said “No law is hundred percent perfect. The Governors and the presidency should come together to resolve the issues because all of them are in the executive arm.”
He added that “PIB has become a law. And you cannot begin to temper with it. Some issues could be resolved internally anyway. They will apply internal mechanism to resolve any perceived grey areas. No law is hundred percent in order.”
Meanwhile, one of the top echelon leaders in the oil and gas industry who preferred to remain anonymous chided the governors’ objections, saying that their position and interest are rather too personal.
In his words, “If you read it (the letter) very well, you will know that they are fighting for their own interests. They are fighting for the interest of their states.
He stressed that he cared less “who owns NNPC whether it’s government, private individual or groups, so far they implement the law according to how it is supposed to be interpreted, I don’t have any qualms with that.”