NaijaTalkTalk- Environmentalists seek review of PIB

The Environmental Rights Action

The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to re-present the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) to the National Assembly. The draft bill, the civil rights group said, must be amended by the President before it is sent to the legislature for ratification.

The group said the present bill would not solve the crisis in the petroleum industry and the agitation of oil communities, stressing that the bill would not adequately address the environmental degradation and spillage if sent back to the National Assembly without amendment.

Speaking at a news conference yesterday, Executive Director, ERA/FoEN Dr. Godwin Uyi Ojo said debate on the bill was politicised by members of the Seventh National Assembly, led by former Senate President David Mark. He said the lawmakers became the mouthpiece of oil companies, which threatened to pull out of the country if the bill was ratified.

He described last-minute efforts of the Seventh National Assembly members to speedily pass the PIB as hypocritical and a mockery of the legislative process, stressing that the censorship of the bill by lawmakers was a grand collusion to water down its vital provisions in favour of the oil companies.

Ojo said: “We do not want a bill that will be referred to as ‘Minister’s PIB’, because this will defeat the key objective of the bill in providing a level-playing field for all actors, while creating efficient and effective regulatory agencies. We demand that the power of minister in Section 6 of the bill be properly scrutinised and that Section 6 (k) be expunged.”

He said the provision, which gives exclusive right to the President to award oil blocks should be reviewed, noting that the bill should be made to build strong institutions rather than individuals.