…PIA will help regulate environmental hazards – Hope
Olusola Bello
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva said on Tuesday that the National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) will become a commercial company within six months
This follows the signing of the Petroleum Industry Bill into law by President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday.
The minister who was speaking at a press conference in Abuja, said a transitional committee is already in place to incorporate NNPC Limited.
All shares in NNPC Limited are expected to be vested in the government at incorporation and held by the Ministry of Finance.
He noted that although the new petroleum act has deregulated the oil sector, subsidy policies will remain in place till further notice.
He said an implementation framework for actual deregulation will be established to mitigate the impact on ordinary Nigerians.
The governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodinma while reacting to the signing of the Petroleum Industry Bill 2021 into law will help to regulate environmental hazards such as oil spillage.
“All the hazards that follow the production of oil, mostly environmental hazards, are as a result of the absence of regulatory environments,” he said on Channels TV’s Politics Today on Tuesday.
“These laws when put in place, will not only regulate the environment but will also create room for value addition both in the oil-bearing communities, the oil-producing companies and government royalties. So, it is going to be a value chain. The benefits are going to be so enormous”.
The Governor commended President Buhari for signing the bill into law, noting that it had been a struggle over the years.
“I must say that the enactment and signing to law of the Petroleum Industry Bill by Mr President is a very welcome development for which we must congratulate him.
“Recall that the past assemblies even before I joined the senate during the 7th National Assembly, made efforts to amend the Petroleum Act which was enacted in 1969 which also became analog but it has not been possible. That the President has been able to break this jinx is a welcome development for which we must congratulate him”.
The oil-producing states in Nigeria are Delta, Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Rivers, Edo, Ondo, Abia, Imo and Lagos.
Bismarck Rewane has however faulted the three percent allocated for oil-producing communities in the just-assented Petroleum Industry Bill 2021, saying it is not the ideal compensation.
The Senate and House of Representatives had passed the PIB on July 15 and 16 respectively with President Muhammadu Buhari signing the document a month after.
“Is the three percent the ideal, optimal compensation for the host communities? I will say, ‘No’ because I come from there but at the same time, what is more, important for the oil communities is the transparency of the money that is spent and the impact it has rather than having a tea party,” Rewane, the Managing Director of Financial Derivatives Company Limited, said during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday.
In the bill, host communities in the Niger Delta are expected to benefit from three percent of an entity’s actual yearly operating expenditure of the preceding financial year in the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors.
All contributions will be deposited in a trust fund for host communities.
According to a draft of the PIB, the trust fund will enhance peace and cordial relationship between oil companies and host communities.
