Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, has said that the Petroleum Industry Bill will be a priority to the Senate when it resumes sitting on the 26th of January.
The Senate President also stated that despite some forces working against the implementation of the Bill, the Senate would work to get it passed.
Ahmed Lawan disclosed this while addressing newsmen in an event to mark his 62nd birthday on Tuesday in Abuja.
READ: PIB and its unsurmountable obstacles
“By the grace of God when we resume, we will start work on the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB); that is going to be one legislation that not only Nigeria but the entire world is waiting for because that will change our economy.
“Money will start flowing so we want you to be in that journey with us so that you too, when the history of PIB passage and assent will be written, your names will be reflected.
“We promised Nigerians that we are going to achieve that by the grace of God in the year 2021,” he said.
READ: FG to deliver 1 million vehicle conversion to autogas by end of 2021
He added that the Senate was faced with forces that did not want to see the signing of the bill, however, he promised that the Senate would persevere to see the Bill gets signed.
“There are people both within and outside the country who will work against it but it is going to take the strength of our patriotism to pass it,” he said.
Mr. Lawan cited the amendment of the Deep Offshore Production Sharing Contract and promised that the PIB would be treated with the same speed.
READ: NNPC to support alternative energy initiative by deploying CNG plants across the country
“We close by 2a.m., 3a.m., just working to amend that act, people didn’t want it to happen because it stopped what has been happening for 20 years.
“In a week, they thought it was a joke. In a week we finished the amendment because the house was on recess, the day they returned, they concurred” he said.
READ: FG assures oil companies of lower taxes in new PIB
Lawan added, “We lost billions of naira because we were supposed to be given 2 billion dollars every year in the last 20 years; they were giving us 216 million dollars.
“But from last year, after the amendment, it is now 2 billion dollars.
“That is what we intend to do with the PIB, we will pass the PIB that will ensure that businesses here get a very competitive environment, that people are able to make profit and stay and even invest more.”
READ: The new PIB may scrap DPR, PPRA, others
What you should know
- Recall Nairametrics reported that the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, said that the National Assembly would work hard to ensure the passing of the Electoral Act and the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), before the end of 2021.
- The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, stated that the much anticipated Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) would include provisions for lower taxes to sustain stable investments in Nigeria’s oil sector.
- Nairametrics also reported last year that if the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB) was finally passed into law by the National Assembly, the existing Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) and Petroleum Inspectorate (PI) might be scrapped, thereby giving way for the Nigeria Petroleum Regulatory Commission to take over their functions.
