By Ogechi Okorie
Abuja (Precise Post) – The Minister of State, Petroleum has reminded that like Coal, the era of depending heavily on the nation’s crude oil would soon be over just as the world did not move away from oil because it exhausted.
Accordingly, it stressed the need to take advantage of the resources now through a robust legislative intervention that will guarantee a fair deal for the country.
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, sounded the warning at a meeting with the leadership of the National Assembly to discuss the redrafted Petroleum Industry Bill 2020 (PIB) forwarded to the National Assembly for consideration by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Both chambers of the National Assembly will formally unveil the Bill at plenary today on resumption from their over two-month annual recess.
The minister who lamented various attempts to have a petroleum industry law in the last 20 years without success, however, noted that PIB remained one of the most important piece of legislation that the country needed at the moment.
He said, “It is for good reason that the PIB happens to be at the core of the Nigerian economy and if you are in the process of making some changes in that core, you know those changes will impact on various other sectors of the economy.
“Today, there is a forecast in the oil industry sector that oil is going to be playing less and less a role in the global energy usage. Some begin to think that by 10 years the world’s dependence on oil would have reduced to 50 per cent.
“At OPEC, the projection is in 2040 that in 20 years from now the world’s dependence on oil would have reduced to 50 per cent. So, whichever way you look at it, it appears that the days of oil are numbered. I always tell people that coal did not finish; the deposits of coal did not run out before the world moved away from coal.
“Today the world is talking about alternative forms of energy, and we must also move with that trend but our focus should be in ensuring that we take advantage of our resources when it matters. Let’s make hay while the sun shines”.
Sylva added that one of the federal government’s objectives was to make Nigeria an “attractive investment destination” as the oil sector will be transformed through the PIB law.
There was however a mild drama when the Senate president, Ahmad Lawan, interjected and asked the minister to stop reeling out the details of the Bill in the presence of journalists who were covering the meeting.
At that point, journalists were asked to leave while the meeting continued behind closed-doors till about 7.41pm.
Earlier, the Senate president and chairman of the National Assembly, Ahmed Lawan, said even though the PIB appears to be jinxed, the 9th Assembly will break the record by passing it into law in record time.
“In the 9th Assembly we promise to break that jinx. We want to see an oil industry that is competitive and beneficial to Nigeria. We will at the end of the day break the jinx and make history,” Lawan added.
He assured that the PIB will be passed “as soon as possible” because of the nation’s economic situation occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.
For his part, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila, reiterated that the PIB was the most important legislation that will come out of the 9th National Assembly, even as he warned that the parliament will not sacrifice thoroughness on the altar of speed in considering the bill.
He stated: “We are here to talk about, perhaps, the most important piece of legislation that will come out from the National Assembly in the lifetime of this government. It is a most important piece of legislation because we all know what oil represents in terms of our economy.
“Everyone has been waiting for the arrival of the PIB. That is the legislation that is on the lips of every Nigerian, whether he knows anything about petroleum or not. It is the most popular and most common bill. Everybody talks about PIB because oil represents the lifewire of our state. That underscores the importance of this Bill.
“The bill has been long in the making for several years but I believe this is the time to pass it. We will pass this bill speedily. However, its passage will not sacrifice thoroughness. We will not sacrifice thoroughness on the altar of speed, because it will be in the nation’s best interest”.
The Speaker added that in the House of Representatives, a “crack team” of legislators who are versed in the workings of the oil industry had been assembled to work with relevant stakeholders towards achieving a common goal.
He continued: “It is an Ad-hoc committee drawn from the House committees on Oil, Upstream, Downstream, Local Content and Gas. So, there is a crack team that will be working with you as we are all trying to go to the same destination.
“Talking about passing it speedily, unfortunately it is coming at a time when it will be competing with the passage of the budget. It is going to be a busy three months for us. I am not saying the PIB is going to be passed in three months”.
Precise Post recalls that the meeting which started about 5.25pm at the Senate Wing of the National Assembly complex, had in attendance some principal officers from both the Senate and House of Representatives, Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari, among other officials.
