After a long debate over the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), which lasted for years and generated outcry at the National Assembly and among indigenes in host communities, President Muhammadu Buhari has eventually signed the controversial Petroleum Industry Bill into Law. The PIB which was assented to on Monday, August 16, 2021, is expected to replace the obsolete Petroleum Act of 1969.
According to a statement issued, Presidential spokesman, Mr. Femi Adesina, confirmed to Nigerians that, the President signed the Bill, after his arrival from the United Kingdom (UK) and while in quarantine.
The statement read,
“President Muhammadu Buhari has signed the Petroleum Industry Bill 2021 into law. Working from home, in five days quarantine, as required by the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19, after returning from London on Friday, August 13, the President assented to the Bill on Monday, August 16, in his determination to fulfill his constitutional duty.
“The ceremonial part of the new legislation will be done on Wednesday, after the days of mandatory isolation would have been fulfilled.
“The Petroleum Industry Act provides legal, governance, regulatory and fiscal framework for the Nigerian petroleum industry, the development of host communities, and related matters.
“The Senate had passed the Bill on July 15, 2021, while the House of Representatives did same on July 16, thus ending a long wait since early 2000s, and notching another high for the Buhari administration.”
The PIB was first brought to the National Assembly in 2008, but it faced several technical hitches but it eventually made progress in 2015, when the House of Representatives passed a version, which again, didn’t go through at the senate.
In the same year 2015, the President Buhari led administration, then proposed passing the Bill in segments, to form four separate bills, namely: Petroleum Industry Governance Bill, Fiscal Regime Bill, Upstream and Midstream Administration Bill, and the Petroleum Host Communities Bill.
The Petroleum Host Communities Bill from this time (2015), generated a lot of hot argument at the National Assembly and among indigenes in host communities which bothers on percentage allocation for host communities.