By Teddy Nwanunobi
Thirty-two days, after the Senate, on Thursday, July 15, passed the harmonised Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), President Muhammadu Buhari has signed the Petroleum Industry Bill 2021 into law.
Valuechain recalls that the harmonised Bill was passed amidst protest by senators from the South-South zone.
A statement issued on Monday by Buhari’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, described the signing of the Bill as another high for the President’s administration.
“Working from home in five days quarantine, as required by the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19, after returning from London on Friday, August 13, the President assented to the Bill Monday, August 16, in his determination to fulfill his constitutional duty.
“The ceremonial part of the new legislation will be done on Wednesday, after the days of mandatory isolation would have been fulfilled.
“The Petroleum Industry Act provides legal, governance, regulatory and fiscal framework for the Nigerian petroleum industry, the development of host communities, and related matters.
“The Senate had passed the Bill on July 15, 2021, while the House of Representatives did same on July 16, thus ending a long wait since early 2000s, and notching another high for the Buhari administration,” the statement read.
The passage followed the adoption of the conference report on the bill, presented by the Senate leader, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi.
The Red Chamber had, on July 6, constituted conference committee to harmonise PIB, which was passed in June.
PIB, in the version passed by the Senate, provides that three percent of operating expenditure of oil companies (OPEX), estimated at $500 million annually, be channeled to the development of host communities.