Page 4 - AfrOil Week 20 2021

AfrOil COMMENTARY AfrOil

Buhari (centre) with members of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council, shown in 2019
Buhari (centre) with members of the P
residential Economic Advisory Council, shown in 2019
More delays for PIB?

As Nigerian MPs miss their latest deadline for passage of the new oil law, Buhari’s administration

makes three changes to the bill on the recommendation of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council

WHEN Nigerian President Muhammadu signature into law in early May.
Buhari submitted the Petroleum Industry Bill This deadline has also been missed. As of
WHAT: (PIB) to the National Assembly last August, he press time, the PIB was still under discussion in
Nigerian legislators did indicated that he expected fast action. More spe- both houses of the National Assembly.
not pass the PIB in the cifically, he told members of the legislature that One of the reasons why discussions have
third reading last month, he wanted them to pass the bill before the end continued, according to Nigerian press reports,
as previously anticipated. of 2020. is that Buhari’s administration has made three
This deadline was not met. Members of the changes to the bill, in line with recommenda-
WHY: House of Representatives, the lower chamber, tions from the Presidential Economic Advisory
The presidential admin- and the Senate, the upper chamber, did pass the Council (PEAC).
istration has revised the PIB in the first reading in late September and More specifically, it has revised the draft leg-
bill in line with PEAC’s then proceeded to pass it in the second reading islation to establish a single regulatory agency
recommendations.
in late October. However, they then suspended to oversee the upstream, midstream and down-
discussions on the bill and turned their focus to stream sectors, rather than setting up one regu-
WHAT NEXT: the 2021 budget. latory body for the upstream sector and another
Although the changes
do not make further As a result, the PIB did not move on to public for the midstream and downstream sectors.
delays inevitable, they do hearings, the next stage of the legislative process, It has also outlined plans for selling an initial
highlight the challenges until early 2021. Likewise, the two chambers did public offering (IPO) of stock in the national oil
still facing the oil and gas not begin the third reading of the PIB until last company (NOC), Nigerian National Petroleum
sector. month. At that time, they expressed confidence Corp. (NNPC), and liberalising the price of
that the bill would pass in the third reading by associated and natural gas shipments to thermal
the end of April and then be sent to Buhari for power plants (TPPs).

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