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The Petroleum Industry Governance Bill was passed at its third reading at the Nigerian Senate today (May 25th, 2017). In the long history of pursuing Petroleum Industry legislative reform in Nigeria, this is the first time that a bill will be passed at the Nigerian Senate.
We shall update you on the changes made to the Bill and the next steps.
The Senate announced on its official twitter feed – @ngrsenate, that the Petroleum Industry Fiscal Bill (PIFB) passed the first hearing. The Bill is the third in the series of petroleum industry-related bills to have commenced the legislative process in the Senate. The first was the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB), which we reported as being scheduled for a third hearing in May 2017, whilst the Host Community Bill went through the first hearing in December 2016. The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream), Senator Tayo Alasoadura introduced the PIFB.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream), Senator Tayo Alasoadura, announced yesterday, that the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill is slated for a third hearing at the Senate on May 16th and 17th, 2017. This is the first time that the PIB in any of its forms would get to this stage in the Senate.
Petroleumindustrybill.com’s Managing Editor, Dr. Adeoye Adefulu was interviewed on CNBC Africa’s Open Exchange Africa programme on the state of the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill on Friday, April 7, 2017.
The Joint Committee tasked with reviewing the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB) in the Senate has laid its report before the house. This signifies the completion of the Committee’s review process. The next step is the clause by clause debate of the Bill at its third hearing, currently scheduled for the 25th of April, 2017. Continue reading “PIGB laid before the Senate for Debate”
We attended the public hearing of the Senate on the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB), which was held over three days in Abuja last week. We shall share an update on the proceedings in a later post. An important highlight is that the FG & the Senate now appear aligned on the institutional reform proposals in the PIGB. Continue reading “PIGB: FG Backs Single Petroleum Sector Regulator, Wants Minister as Chair”
The Senate Joint Committee on the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill yesterday published a Public Notice in the Punch Newspaper, inviting industry stakeholders and the general public to a hearing on the Bill scheduled to hold on December 7, 2016 at Conference Room 0.22 of the Senate Building, National Assembly Complex, Abuja for 10.00pm daily. The announcement also invites the submission of Memoranda on the Bill which must be submitted not later than December 2, 2016.
News reaching us from the Punch Newspaper confirms that the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB), which is an unbundled version of the PIB, described by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream), Senator Tayo Alasoadura, as proposing “a slim, focused yet robust framework” for effective and institutional governance of the Nigerian petroleum industry, passed second reading in the floor of the Senate on Tuesday, November 2, 2016.
This speedy action on the Bill seems to confirm our earlier report of the Senate’s plan to ensure that this version of the PIB is passed before the end of the legislative sitting for 2016.
An interesting development however is the recently launched 7 Big Wins of the Federal Government, which is the government’s Roadmap of short and medium term priorities to grow the Nigerian oil and gas industry. One of the key areas of focus of the Roadmap is oil and gas Policy & Regulation which proposes two industry reform bills – a Petroleum Industry Reform Bill (PIRB) and a Petroleum Fiscal Reform Bill (PFRB). The PIRB is expected to address all governance and operational industry reform issues much like the PIGB and the Roadmap outlines an objective of concluding and passing the PIRB & the PFRB either by the end of December 2016 or by the end of the first quarter of 2017 (a seeming contradiction in the Roadmap).
The question is, is the PIGB and the PIRB one and the same? This is very doubtful. If these two Bills are two different Bills as we suspect, then there is a likelihood of the resuscitation of the supremacy battle between the National Assembly and the Presidency earlier reported on, which we fear may end up stalling the passage of the Bill if not properly managed.
It appears the Senate is finally ready to begin deliberations on the PIB as the Vanguard today reports that the PIB will lead other major issues which the Senate will next week pay serious attention to, as part of efforts by senators to reposition the economy.
The plan is to ensure that the PIB is passed before the end of the legislative sitting for 2016.
In our last post, we reported that the passage of the PIB seemed to be nowhere in sight due to internal power play between the National Assembly and the Executive. Well, the Guardian yesterday reported that the Presidency will present three harmonized bills from the PIB to the National Assembly before their resumption from recess.
According to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, the three Bills are in the final editing stages and will be sent to the Federal Executive Council and other stakeholders for their input. Dr. Kachikwu reiterated the willingness of the Executive and legislature to pass the PIB noting that the three Bills were drafted in consideration of the issues raised by stakeholders.
The National Assembly should resume from recess by 12th of September 2016 and we hope that the Presidency makes good on its promise.