The Governors of states in the Southern part of Nigeria have said ‘no’ to the allocation of at least 30% of the profit generated by the proposed Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited for the exploration of oil in ‘frontier basins.’
This is as identified by Section 9 of the recently passed Petroleum Industry Bill, which will regulate the oil sector if signed by President Muhammadu Buhari.
A statement by the President in 2019 identified the frontier basins as Chad Basin, Gongola Basin, Sokoto Basin, Dahomey Basin, Bida Basin and Benue Trough.
The disagreement was disclosed by the Governors via a communique they issued after their meeting on Monday in Lagos. The communique partly read:
“We commend the National Assembly for the progress made in the passage of the PIB. The Forum rejects the proposed 3% and supports the 5% share of the oil revenue to the host community as recommended by the House of Representatives.
The forum also rejects the proposed 30% share of profit for the exploration of oil and gas in the basins.
The forum rejects the ownership structure of the proposed Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited. The Forum disagrees that the company be vested in the Federal Ministry of Finance but should be held in trust by Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority since all tiers of Government have stakes in that vehicle.”
What you should know
Currently, crude oil is obtained from eight states in the Niger Delta region which are Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, Imo, Ondo and Rivers States.
In case you missed it
Last week, the National Assembly passed the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).
