The House of Representatives is scheduled to begin clause by clause consideration of the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB today. This was disclosed by the Deputy Speaker, Emeka Ihedioha, who made the announcement on Tuesday during plenary. He presided over the House in the absence of the Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal.
“By now, I am sure copies of the report have been circulated to all of us.
“I personally went to the Office of the Chief Whip to get my own. Please, check the Chief Whip’s office to pick your copies” Ihedioha told members, stating that the consideration would start today.
The PIB had been pending at the National Assembly for years, despite its expected repositioning of the petroleum industry.
The ad hoc committee on the PIB had turned in its report on the 12th of March, two years after it was inaugurated by the Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal, but the House delayed deliberation because of the 2015 general elections.
The report of the committee, among other things, recommended stripping the President his discretionary power to grant petroleum licenses and leases to operators in the country’s oil and gas industry and replacing it with competitive bidding for such awards.
It also recommended the removal of the Minister of Petroleum as the chairman of the National Oil Company that has been proposed to replace the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and other key agencies in the industry.
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