The Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), no doubt, can be described as one that has elicited the most attention in the Nigerian legislative history. All sectors of the Nigerian society had had one thing or the other to align or contend with in the bill. This is not surprising, being a bill to regulate the entire activities in the country's petroleum resources sector'a sector that accounts for over 85 per cent of its gross earnings, with the attendant dependence on it for the sustenance of the economy.The bill had undergone several reviews and amendments, having several versions in circulation. Here, it is worthy of note that the original bill was presented in 2008 by the then late President Musa Yar'Adua administration, with Alhaji Rilwan Lukman as the petroleum minister.Alhaji Lukman has been in the petroleum sector for such a long while that it is considered in some quarters that the PIB was an attempt by him to correct some of the imbalances in the sector, some of which he can equally be held responsible for. Equally, the spiralling crises in the Niger Delta, which was attributed in part to the activities of the oil corporations whose opaque operational pattern as viewed by the locals, coupled with the fact that they only lived with the negative impacts, led to the Nigerian government setting up the Petroleum Industry Reform Committee in 2000 part of whose outcomes is the PIB.The PIB, which was presented to the National Assembly as an Executive Bill, has been promoted by government as a shining example of global best practice. It claimed that it will transform the Nigerian petroleum industry from one of the most opaque in the world to one of the most transparent. The bill is touted by its promoters as having come to reform the petroleum sector to become more transparent and, if well implemented, bring more revenue to the federal, state and local governments.At inception, every Nigerian agreed on the need for this bill and the Environmental Rights Action (ERA) was at the forefront of those campaigning for its early passage into law, though with some amendments as were suggested by various segments of the Nigerian populace. It is the belief of Nigerians that if properly handled, the PIB can contribute in no small way in achieving the desired result of transparency and accountability in the petroleum sector.What ERA and other civil society organisations and community groups want from the omnibus PIB has been fully articulated at various fora and in different documents. Reinforcing this position led to the joint action by ERA, Social Action and CISLAC in May, 2011 at the twilight of the sixth National Assembly to demand that the PIB, as presently before the National Assembly, should not be passed as that will bequeath more hardship, tension and crises to the Nigerian people in direct contradiction with the motives of the real initiators of the bill.Our position then, and now, stills remains that the PIB must be seen from the prism of a pro-Nigerian people's law rather than that which is to further enrich the multi-national and local oil and gas moguls while perpetuating the Nigerians in eternal servitude. The bill must be such that will translate into a law that will solve the problems of the sector, vis- a-vis the expectations of the Nigerian people. It must not be the one bought at a price by the oil and gas industry operators, as was the case when the lower chamber of the National Assembly wanted to hurriedly pass it in May, 2011. We want the National Assembly, in considering the bill for the umpteenth time, to be guided by the highest sense of patriotism, while incorporating the contributions of the broad spectrum of Nigerians. This will guarantee that they are not enmeshed in the type of corruption scandals that engulfed the lower chamber of the sixth National Assembly in its journey towards the passage of the PIB which, added to other objections, led to strong opposition from those that were hitherto allies to the passage of the bill. It was interpreted to be that the skewed version that came up for consideration was not borne out of the desire to serve Nigeria's interests, but to satisfy pay masters.To consider all credible inputs from Nigerians, weigh and consider them in reaching the final passable version of the PIB will help the legislators in arriving at the time-tested principles of legislative drafting. In order to make a law that will command acceptability as living law, rather than a law in the text books, it is settled that the following must be highlighted:There is, in most instances, an issue on ground which cannot be tackled ordinarily. Such problems or situations may need legislation to tackle it.In the circumstance above, such piece of legislation should provide for how to tackle the said problem. It must provide for solution.Such law must take into consideration all relevant existing laws relating to the sector it covers. Depending on the nature and scope of such new law, either repeal existing laws that will impede its effective implementation or is made to reinforce existing laws that will enhance its implementation.Any law that is made with little or no provision as to what constitutes a violation of that law with punishment prescribed will end up being either a history book or a mere statement of intention or admonition.Related to the above is the issue of enforcement. Any law that fails to prescribe a clear cut enforcement mechanism, end up even if beautifully couched, become a dead law or law in the text books as it will be either difficult, cumbersome or impossible to enforce.Looking at the bill under consideration in May, 2011 the critical concern became the absence of some of these criteria of a good bill hence, our opposition to it as not being a good law. The version of the bill, that is, the PIB 2010 as it is presently composed, can be said to be merely presented to spin more money into the coffers of the Nigerian state and create lee way for the industry operators to continue their destructive business practices without taking into consideration the worst casualties of the aftermath of operations in the petroleum sector. What then do we really want from the PIB'As Nigerians, environmentalists, community and grassroots campaigners and advocates, we want a PIB that will enjoy our acceptability and support will be that which will, among others, strengthen Nigeria's sovereignty by investing the ownership of the petroleum resources in the Nigerian nation rather than the Federal Government; the strengthening of the transparency and accountability drive by removal of non disclosure clauses from the bill in line with the EITI principles which Nigeria is now a compliant state; inclusion of communities' interests in the petroleum sector in the bill; inclusion of provisions that will ensure the protection and preservation of the Nigerian environment in course of the petroleum sector operations as the environment is noted to be the greatest victim of this sector's activities; inclusion in the bill of adequate compensatory mechanisms for victims of the negative impacts of the operations in the sector and inclusion of provisions to clearly spell out what constitutes offences and penalties for such offences, as well as clear provisions for enforcement processes and mechanisms in the case of violation of any of the provisions of the bill, especially the environment, communities interest, security and health provisions of the bill.Pointedly, ERA will want to have clear provisions tackling the management and handling of the byproducts of these industry operators, including their total elimination. Byproducts like gas that is being flared must be stopped, the gas gathered, either re-injected into the soil or harnessed, refined and made available in the domestic market for citizens utilisation.There should be provisions made to tackle the incidence of oil spillages, both from facilities on shore and off shore, including from barges, tankers, pipelines etc, in accordance with internationally accepted best practices.Provisions that will reinforce the provisions of the Environmental Impact Assessment Act by including strict and verifiable compliance with the requirements of the EIA Act and other related laws as a pre-condition for any transaction in the sector will be apt. Added to the above will be a clear provision for an environmental audit and remediation mechanisms.The need to include a clear provision on what interests are accruable to the people, especially the host communities'those that will suffer any negative impact of the operationalactivities of the sector cannot be over emphasised as the present provision in the 2010 Bill is not clear and if followed will lead to nothing other than being a recipe for more tension and crises in these areas.We want to see a new version that will either reword or delete provisions that will continue to sustain the opaque nature of the industry and bring it to the clear path of transparency and accountability on both the side of the companies and the government as it is only then that the issue of economic prosperity from the sector can be discussed.We believe that the inclusion of the above provisions and others that may be suggested by other good intentioned groups and for the reasons of guaranteeing greater profitability will be a panacea for acceptability and ownership of the Bill and when it becomes law by Nigerians. Citizens will no longer accept the continued turning of the Nigerian state into a bullish market for the extractive industries operators with Nigerian citizens as the commodities and mercantile items to be disposed off to the highest bidders without consideration of their needs! Enough of the profit before humans syndrome. The Nigerian state actors must ensure their primary responsibility of citizens protection is upheld to the latter as anything to the contrary is unacceptable.The PIB that will enjoy the support of Nigerians and ERA is that which will take care of the problems of the sector which has plagued the people for the past close to 60 years of the oil reign and mis-governance of the sector in Nigeria.. Williams, Head of Legal Resources/Programs Manager, Democracy Outreach of Environmental Rights Action (ERA), writes from Abuja.
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