The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) on Monday in Abuja, urged the National Assembly to strike a balance in the legal frameworks of the Petroleum industry Bill (PIB) currently before it.
To balance it, the body maintained, is to take cognisance of the interest of investors, workers, and the government.
President of PENGASSAN, Festus Osifo, in his presentation at the public hearing of the bill on Monday said: “we must pass a PIB that will meet three basic obligations: to ensure more funds come to the government, ensure that the employees in the oil and gas industry are protected and ensure that it attracts investment to the country.
“You cannot pass a bill that will drive away investors. These are the people that will bring the fund to the industry. So, any bill that must be passed must be a bill that is investor friendly.”
Osifo said, today in Africa, a lot of countries are producing oil. “In the past, it was Nigeria, Angola, Congo, Gabon and a few others, but today many countries are discovering oil on a daily basis and the are providing lots of incentives to ensure that investors come to their countries.
“Nigeria as a country has an opportunity to pass a bill that will bring a lot of investment into the country; we can’t shy away from the government making money. So, it must be a bill that is balanced and all-encompassing.
“One of the things that we are against as organised labour in the PIB is that today there is only one regulator, but the PIB is trying to split into two, which will pose a threat. You will run from one to the other, creating unhealthy competition.
“We are advocating that there must be a single regulator in the oil and gas industry because it will promote growth, investment and developmental the end of the day. Single regulator has many advantages as an investor can go there and have all information about his investment.
President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, has said that the PIB presently before the National Assembly will ensure that Nigerians benefit optimally from crude oil production and sale of fossil fuel reserves.
According to Lawan, the National Assembly in its consideration of the piece of legislation, would ensure that the bill when passed into law, guarantees improved revenue earnings for the country.
Lawan said, “let me say this, we (National Assembly) will pass this bill not without ensuring that it is a bill that satisfies certain conditions.
He also decried the delay in passing PIB into law in the last 21 days for lack of proper consultation, insisting that the 9th National Assembly would change the narrative.
