The former presidential adviser on Energy, Dr Emmanuel Egbogah, has emphasized the urgent need for the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, to be passed in the country as soon as practicable.
Speaking in Abuja during a round table themed, “Petroleum Industry Reforms: Possible Immediate Next Steps for the Incoming Administration” organised by the consulting unit of the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies, NIPPS, Egbogah maintained that the bill which has been awaiting passage by the National Assembly for some years, will change everything from fiscal terms to overhauling the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC.
Egbogah, who was among the team which drafted the original version of the PIB, said if it had been passed all these years, gas flaring would have become a thing of the past as the bill was supposed to have barred such act since December 2012.
He said, “The bill will transform the industry from the most opaque to one of the most transparent in the world, it will promote transparency and accountability in the industry, apart from proposing a new national oil company which will be fully commercialised and self-funding. With failed refineries and wide spread abuse of the subsidy scheme, the PIB was intended to address the challenges. Unfortunately hopes of its passage is fading by the day.”
According to him, licencing rounds, contract renewals and investment in the industry have been put on hold for about six years now. He also noted that the passage of the bill is critical to breathing a fresh air into the industry, Leadership reports.
