Page 8 - AfrOil Week 40 2019
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AfrOil POLICY AfrOil
NIGERIA
MUHAMMADU Buhari, the president of Nigeria, said last week that his administration hoped to ratify a new version of the law govern- ing the oil industry in the near future.
Buhari, who was speaking at an event marking the 59th anniversary of Nigeria’s independence, did not say whether the federal government had set a deadline for the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB). He did state, though, that his administration also intended to introduce amendments to the Deep Offshore Act and the Inland Basin Production-Sharing Contracts Act.
Together, he said, the new laws will help ensure that the government receives its “fair share of oil revenues, whilst [also] encouraging private investment.” He did not define a “fair share” or reveal what terms Nigeria’s govern- ment was willing to offer investors.
The president did say, though, that he wanted to see the federal government become less reliant on oil revenues. He declared that his administration was “committed to responsibly managing our oil wealth endowments” and would “prudently save our oil income and invest more in the non-oil job-creating sectors.”
Nigerian legislators and government officials have been talking about enacting new legisla- tion to replace the Petroleum Act of 2004 for more than 10 years. A new version of the law known as the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB) came before Buhari for considera- tion last year, but he rejected it, saying that he would not endorse legislation that scaled back the powers of the petroleum minister, a cabinet post held by the president.
Buhari was speaking shortly after Ahmad
Lawan, the president of Nigeria’s Senate, said that Parliament hoped to pass the PIB before the end of next year. Lawan did not give a specific target date, but he did say that Nigeria’s security agencies ought to do more to support the oil industry.
The president also addressed this point in his speech, saying that his government intended to continue its efforts to combat smuggling and theft. He also stated, though, that Nigerian authorities were trying to address the root causes of security problems by improving socioeconomic conditions in the Niger River Delta and cleaning up oil spills and pollution in Ogoniland.
The administration hopes to accomplish these tasks by transferring the responsibilities of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, he added. This shift will ensure better oversight of government funds, since the NDDC has been covering its operating expenses with the pro- ceeds of a 3% levy on oil companies’ expendi- tures within Nigeria, he noted.
President Muhammadu Buhari (Photo: State House)
According to the document, the government has instructed the Central Bank to deposit the entire sum due to NOC in an emergency account.
Tripoli is reportedly using state revenue – namely, fees collected from foreign exchange sales under a rule introduced in 2018 – to cover the deposit.
This was not the first time that NOC has complained about GNA’s handling of its budget allocations.
The company claims that authorities in Trip- oli have already slashed its funding, leaving less than anticipated for NOC’s own operations and for its subsidiaries, twice this year.
Buhari comments on Nigerian government’s plans for new oil law
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 40 09•October•2019
