PIB Survives in Senate, Scales Second Reading

Senate President, David Mark

• ACF seeks probe into allocation of oil blocks

By Omololu Ogunmade and John Shiklam

After two days of heated debate, the controversial Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) Thursday scaled the second reading on the floor of the Senate, paving the way for it to be committed to the committee stage where it will be subjected to a public hearing.

Consequently, the bill was committed to the committees on Upstream, Downstream, Gas and Judiciary and Legal Matters for further legislation. The committees will report back to the Senate in six weeks.

Unlike Tuesday and Wednesday, this week, when the atmosphere was charged as a result of stiff opposition to the bill from northern senators, the Senate was calm yesterday and devoid of tension.

To the surprise of observers of Thursday's plenary, the passage of the bill to the committee stage was unanimous without any dissenting voice, a situation, which indicated that senators from both the North and South who had been divided along regional lines in the last three days had reached some kind of consensus on the PIB.

At the opening of the debate on Tuesday, northern senators vehemently opposed the bill, saying some of its provisions would favour the oil-producing region.

They rejected Sections 116 - 118 of the bill, which stipulate that oil companies must remit 10 per cent of their net profits to host communities.

They also faulted Section 9 of the bill that provides for the establishment of National Frontiers' Agency, otherwise known as Petroleum Technical Bureau, as a unit under the office of the Minister of Petroleum Resources, saying it should exist as an independent body. The agency will be saddled with the task of exploring and exploiting oil in all parts of the country.

The northern senators also criticised the perceived unlimited powers given to the Minister of Petroleum Resources, which they said would be detrimental to reforms in the oil sector.

Parts of the powers of the minister as provided in the bill include the powers to re-assign licences to operators in the industry, grant waivers, grant and revoke leases unconditionally, order the auditor general access to some documents, and is empowered to appoint the management of host community fund.

Some senators also criticised Section 119 of the bill, which gives the president the unilateral power to grant oil licences, saying it is against best practices.

On Tuesday, Senator Ahmed Lawan, a member of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), had argued that the Niger Delta did not deserve additional funds, having received N11 trillion from derivation and other funds since 1999.

He had alleged that different state governments in the oil-producing states that have been receiving 13 per cent derivation have nothing to show for it, insisting that putting the extra burden on the people for their sake was unacceptable.

However, at Wednesday’s plenary, Chairman, Senate Committee on Business and Rules, Ita Enang, accused northerners of reaping from the benefits of indigenous crude oil exploration and production in the Niger Delta at the expense of indigenes of the area.

Enang, who represents Akwa Ibom North-west in the Senate, accused influential northerners of being owners of about 83 per cent of the entire oil wells in the Niger Delta.

His allegation prompted a call by the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) on the Federal Government to set up a commission of enquiry to investigate the claim.

When the PIB came up again for debate Thursday, even though some northern senators had during the previous plenary sessions vowed to oppose the bill to the end, while others pledged to support it with reservations, they all unanimously allowed the bill to pass through second reading.

But they expressed the hope that some adjustments would be made at the committee level and that public opinions at a forthcoming public hearing on the bill as well as expert advice would largely shape the bill before it is returned to the Senate for third reading.

It was learnt Thursday that northern senators succumbed to pressure to support the bill in view of the public perception that their opposition to the bill was a sign that they were envious of the oil-producing states, as none of the 19 northern states is an oil producer.

Besides, the revelation by   Enang went a long way to silencing opponents of the bill.

That the bill scaled the second reading, it was further gathered, was made possible by Senate President David Mark's deft handling of proceedings during the debate when he described senators as well-meaning Nigerians who would not oppose the PIB because of its immense benefits to the nation.

Speaking on the bill, Senator Smart Adeyemi (Kogi West), who argued that his senatorial district had oil that needed to be explored, urged the National Assembly to expand the scope of the bill to include the downstream sector.

He also advocated the need to support the bill, noting that it would address corruption and promote accountability and transparency in the oil industry.

While appealing to northern senators to support the bill, Adeyemi said if oil was discovered in Niger and Chad, “I don't think we have offended God in the north such that oil cannot be discovered there and when the time comes, it will be to the glory of us all.”

In his remarks, Mark dismissed insinuations that the bill had polarised the country along the regional divide, saying that “we are also very united on the fact that so much power is given to the minister, particularly Section 191 where the minister can grant leases unconditionally and can also revoke leases unconditionally.

“We also all agree that the frontier exploration agency should be properly funded and independent and given a time within which it will compete and start prospecting for oil in all parts of the country.

“Those who spoke very strongly for South-south or Niger Delta also emphasised this and this was one area where people expressed concern. The fact of the matter is that we all need to be on the same wave-length.

“I must emphasise that the bill is not the North versus the South, far from that. Because what is good for the North is also good for the South; and what is bad for the South, is bad for the North.

“So it is not one section of the country versus another section of the country.” 

Reacting to Enang’s allegation that influential northerners own 83 per cent of indigenous oil blocks, the ACF urged the Federal Government to set up a commission of enquiry to investigate the claim.

The forum, in a statement Thursday by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Anthony Sani, said it was worried by the allegation, adding if there is application of federal character in the allocation of oil leases, the allegation is ridiculous.

The ACF challenged the Senate to investigate the allegation and publish the distribution of oil blocks according to states, production volumes and dates.

Alternatively, the ACF called on the Federal Government to institute a commission of enquiry to establish the veracity or otherwise of the allegation.