The Petroleum Industry Bill is an ambitious piece of proposed legislation that seeks to cover virtually the whole gamut of the petroleum industry activities from exploration to production as well as the full upstream and downstream activities. It is over 200 pages in length and made up of 10 parts. Very few Nigerian laws are as extensive as its proposals; it is even more detailed than the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended - being composed of 405 sections as against the constitutions 320 sections. The bill isolates the mischief in the existing law and policy and brings forward remedies to plug the identified loopholes. Pertinently, it seeks to create new agencies to replace existing ones or even new ones to cover perceived gaps in the extant law, change the process for calculating fiscal returns to the treasury and create more opportunities for Nigerians to participate in the oil industry. Experts estimate that the implementation of the legislation when passed will guarantee a minimum of additional N3tn in annual revenue to the government of the Federation.The objectives of the PIB are to: enhance exploration and exploitation of petroleum resources in Nigeria and to promote petroleum production for the benefit of all Nigerians; significantly increase domestic gas supplies for power generation and industrial development; create a peaceful business environment for petroleum operations; establish a progressive fiscal framework that encourages further investment in the petroleum industry whilst increasing accruable revenues to the government; create a commercially viable National Oil Company; deregulate petroleum product prices; create efficient regulatory entities; create transparency, good governance and sustainable economic development; promote Nigerian Content; and protect health, safety and the environment.The bill also seeks to create such agencies as the National Petroleum Directorate; Nigerian Petroleum Inspectorate; Petroleum Products Regulatory Authority; National Petroleum Assets Management Agency; Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd; Nigerian Petroleum Research Centre, and the National Frontier Exploration Service. The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd shall be incorporated as a private company limited by shares under the Companies and Allied Matters Act as the successor company to the assets and liabilities of the extant NNPC. It will have sound corporate governance and disclosure practices and,importantly, will no longer serve as a regulatory, quasi-commercial and policy making organ of the government in the industry. Besides, the existing joint ventures are to be incorporated for the promotion of accountability, transparency and financial self-sufficiency. Parties to the joint ventures will be shareholders of the incorporated entities.It should be stressed that the PIB sets new rules for petroleum prospecting licences and petroleum mining leases, marginal fields and revocation of licences. In line with global best practices, it has a strong environmental management and remediation regime through the provision of processes that comply with international standards and the establishment of the Remediation Fund. The National Transport Logistics Company will take over the ownership of the gas pipelines from the Nigerian Gas Company and Facility Management Companies shall be granted licences to manage and operate segments of product pipelines and depots. The fiscal provisions will ensure that the Treasury maximises revenue accruing from oil and gas operations.With these obvious benefits, what then is delaying the PIB from becoming law' The answer to this poser is traceable to a network of interests. The bill is a technical proposal for a law drafted by experts and, to a reasonable extent, only fully understood by experts but with very wide and far- ranging implications for the generality of the populace who can lay no claim to any knowledge of petroleum production and its administration.Instructively, there are so many stakeholders and interest groups that are seeking to influence the final outcome of the PIB. From the government that presented the bill, to industry operators massed under the multinational oil companies, the indigenous operators, NNPC, professional groups and oil workers to the citizens, who the constitution declares to be sovereign, from whom the government derives all its powers, legitimacy and authority. Of course, we cannot discountenance the interest of the legislature which is responsible for breathing life into the bill to make it become an Act of parliament after the assent of the President.Since the bill has been presented for legislative consideration, the disputations as to what should emerge at the end of the day as the law should surprise no one if we are students of jurisprudence, the science of law. As an instrument of social engineering, resolving societal conflicts and geared towards satisfying as much as possible, with the least sacrifices, the interest of the majority, we can understand that the interests of all stakeholders are not the same. However, Nigerians are surprised at the apparent abdication of duty by the legislature. The Sixth Session of the National Assembly surprised Nigerians by not recognising the importance of the PIB and giving it urgent and accelerated attention. Rather, Nigerians were inundated with reports about lobbying by various interest groups, various versions of the bill being in circulation and virtually, majority of the legislators having an agenda different from the national agenda. This eventually led the Sixth Session to abandon the bill.The Seventh Session of the National Assembly has stated its desire to serve the common good through laws made for the peace, order and good government. The House of Representatives went a step further by identifying the PIB as priority legislation. It is therefore time to walk the talk. The lawmakers should immediately, after the passage of the 2012 budget, focus on priority bills such as the PIB so that by the end of the first quarter of 2012, it should be on the Presidents table for his assent. If the complaint of the circulation of various versions of the bill still subsists, the leadership of the National Assembly should revert to the communication sent by the President to it, which is the original, more patriotic and Nigerian focused bill. If that communication has been overtaken by events, the President should dispatch a fresh one to the parliament immediately.It is also imperative for the President to take a leadership position on this bill just as President Barrack Obama does on his pet bills. The President, the ministers of Petroleum and Finance, and indeed the entire federal executive should be seen to be talking about and advocating for the passage of the bill emphasising its benefits to the economy and the common person. If fiscal policy is geared towards increasing revenues available to government for the implementation of Jonathans Transformation Agenda, then the passage of the PIB is a sure target for enhanced revenue accrual.This is one bill where the interests of all patriotic Nigerian should coalesce and it is clear that the interest of the Executive arm of government and civil society are the samethe immediate passage of the bill. Thus, all voices of reason should come together and put subtle pressure on the National Assembly to expeditiously do the job for which its members are very handsomely, and outrageously paid. We all need to add our voices to the campaign and raise the demand for the passage of the bill to the highest decibels.- Onyekpere is the Lead Director, Centre for Social Justice, Abuja. He can be reached on censoj@gmail.com or 08127235995.
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