President Muhammadu Buhari, on Monday, signed the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) notwithstanding the furore it had generated over some of its provisions and thus set the stage for another round of protestations in some quartres.
Noteworthy, however, is the fact that some economic experts and international bodies have applauded the president’s courage while he is taking a lot of flak from oil bearing communities who bitterly feel short-changed by the outcome of the long awaited law that would improve the nation’s running of its most vital sector as well as make everybody, including environmentally ravaged oil communities, happy.
According to Chief Martin Onovo, a top oil and gas engineering and management consultant, the product that came out of Abuja’s smithy was a terribly bad copy of the original canvassed by stakeholders.
“We knew that Buhari would sign this version of the PIB into law as it was his own unpatriotic version that was passed by the rubber-stamp National Assembly. The version passed does not meet the original objectives of the PIB. Instead, it promotes Buhari’s sectional objectives,” he said, while noting that its was just another problem and not the solution it was expected to be.
Similarly, Chief Ochi Emmanuel Ode, the Chairman, Middle Belt Traditional Council (MBTC), argued that the Federal Government may have taken care of its own interests before assenting to the contentious bill.
“To me, it may not be wrong to say that the power blocs have taken care of their special needs in order to get the majority needs for their regions,” he said, while advising the disappointed stakeholders to wait for another opportunity later to seek amendments to the Act.
But the unionist, Peter Esele, would rather blame the governors and lawmakers from the disenchanted oil states that should have pushed for a better deal for their people.
In any case, he thinks something is better than nothing.
SOURCE: independent.ng