. As House resumes tomorrow
As the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) comes up for first reading when the House of Representatives reconvenes tomorrow, there are indications that the lawmakers may reject the revised version of the bill forwarded by President Goodluck Jonathan, Daily Trust heard in Abuja yesterday.
President Jonathan forwarded the PIB to the National Assembly on July 19 and urged for 'expeditious passage.'
However, the House stepped down the Bill after Minority Leader Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila (ACN, Lagos) urged the house to delay its presentation for first reading, arguing that it was too important to be legislated in a hurry.
The House will resume from recess tomorrow and the PIB is top on its legislative agenda. But many lawmakers spoken to yesterday, particularly those from non-oil producing states vowed to reject the bill because it will further impoverish thier states.
They informed Daily Trust that during the recess, caucuses of the various geo-political zones had met and taken positions, with those outside the oil producing areas resolving to make sure that the proposed law is returned to the Presidency because the provisions therein are inimical to the interest of their constituents.
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One contentious area, Daily Trust learnt, is the Oil Exploration Agency PIB proposed by late President Umaru Yar'adua that will be charged with the responsibility of discovering oil fields in new frontiers like the Chad Basin, Imo Basin, Benue Trough and the Dahormey basin.
But the bill presented by President Jonathan has downgraded it to a unit within the NNPC. But the members insisted that it is better to make it an autonomous agency because the NNPC has a paid lukewarm attitude to oil operations outside the Niger Delta in the past.
Earlier in July, Rep Kyari Gujbawu (PDP, Maiduguri Metropolitan) presented a private member bill to the House seeking the establishment of a new frontier oil exploration agency "for the purpose of exploration of oil and gas deposits in the new frontiers of Sokoto Rima Basin, Chad Basin, Dahomey Basin, Benue Trough and Anambra Basin."
The bill which is a replica of the provision which President Jonathan removed from the Yar'adua's PIB was read the first time shortly before the House went on recess. Among other things, the bill is seeking four percent of total proceeds from the sale of oil and gas to be deducted from first line charge and used to fund the operations of the agency.
One member who spoke to Daily Trust yesterday said the House might consider consolidating Gujbawu's bill with Jonathan's PIB.
A ranking member who is privy to the discussions of the various caucuses said the lawmakers are also against the proposal in respect of the Petroleum Equalisation Management Fund (PEF). The bill is said to have made provision for a clause giving powers to the minister of petroleum resources to scrap PEF when it is assumed that its functions are over.
He disclosed that the bill intends to, in the long run, replace the Petroleum Equalization Management Fund as well as its functions with the proposed Petroleum Host Communities Fund which seeks to compel oil and gas companies to pay 10 percent stakes out of their profits to host communities.
With this provision, the oil producing communities are expected to get an additional revenue amounting to over N160 billion every year, the lawmaker said. "This is in addition to the 13% derivation which is remitted to them from first line charge, funds that get to them through the Ministry of Niger Delta as well as billions of naira spent in the amnesty programme," he added.
The lawmaker, however, told our correspondent that members were against the proposal to confer on the minister the powers to scrap the PEF because "only the National Assembly can repeal or amend laws."
He also observed that, "Scraping of the Petroleum Equalisation Fund will lead to higher prices of petroleum products in the northern part of Nigeria and other non oil producing states of the South."
PEF is currently a parastatal under the ministry of petroleum resources which is charged with the responsibility of maintaining uniform prices of petroleum products by paying bridging claims to marketers and ensuring that they comply with the laws regarding uniform pricing across the country.
In the same vein, the legislators have opposed the 'obvious compromise to International Oil Companies (IOCs) in the new version of the law in the aspect of fiscal regime or taxation in the industry.
Speaking to our reporter, another ranking member from the south west regretted that the provision in the first PIB which sought to boost oil revenues had been tampered with in the new bill.
He said: "In the first PIB draft, it was expected that Nigeria's oil revenue earnings would increase by an additional $4 billion USD (N640 billion) as Nigeria is said to be heavily short-changed under the previous arrangement in addition to improving the extant Joint Venture agreements between the NNPC and the IOCs by giving the NNPC larger share and percentage of ownership but we also obverse that, that has been changed. In fact, instead of gaining Nigeria will be losing if this bill is passed as they brought it."
He also expressed regret that Jonathan's PIB excluded the Nigerian Petroleum Research Centre located in Kaduna, which was meant to carry out research in all areas pertaining to the petroleum industry, but primarily in the areas of exploration and production and process technology.
"How can we allow this to pass?" the lawmaker asked.
"The changes effected to the piece of legislation include a new provision that stipulates certain percentage of the oil revenues to the producing communities apart from the 13 percent derivation, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), the Federal ministry of Niger Delta and the amnesty programme, which on the average gulps 100 billion naira annually," he added.
The lawmaker observed that the Yar'adua's version of the bill was fair and equitable to all, stressing that what is being proposes now is 80 percent tilted towards the interest of the Niger Delta region "while other components of the country will be schemed out."
The bill, which has been in the works for close to 15 years, is the amalgamation of 16 laws in the oil and gas sector. This will also not be the first time it will be subjected to legislative scrutiny. In December 2008, Late President Umaru Musa Yar'adua had forwarded the bill to the National Assembly. But no sooner had the bill got to the House than it was trailed with controversies. Jonathan, while serving as acting president ordered the withdrawal of the bill from the parliament.
Daily Trust