By Kenneth Jukpor
The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has said that the passage of the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB) would improve local content participation in the nation’s oil sector.
According to NCDMB, most indigenous investors were waiting for the passage of the bill to enable them better understand the business environment and the opportunities PIGB affords, before making significant investments.
The General Manager, Corporate Communications at NCDMB, Engr. Ginah Otonyo Ginah, revealed this to our correspondent during an exclusive chat recently.
According to Engr. Ginah, the oil and gas business would still be dominated by foreign players unless the Federal Government signs PIGB into law.
Meanwhile, ten years after the first draft of the Petroleum Industry Bill was sent to the National Assembly, the fate of the bill, which was split into four parts by the current legislature for easy passage, is still hanging in the balance.
Against the backdrop of the refusal of President Muhammadu Buhari to assent to the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill and as electioneering intensifies ahead of the 2019 elections, industry experts have expressed doubt about the Petroleum Industry Bill becoming law in the current administration.
A key obstacle to the growth of the nation’s oil and gas industry has been widely described as the regulatory uncertainty caused by the delay in the passage of the PIB.
The bill, which seeks to change the organizational structure and fiscal terms governing the industry, suffered setbacks in the 6th and 7th National Assembly.
To fast-track its passage into law, the current National Assembly decided to split the bill into four parts – the PIGB, Petroleum Industry Administration Bill, Petroleum Industry Fiscal Bill and Petroleum Host Community Bill.
After its passage by both the Senate and the House of Representatives, the PIGB was transmitted to the President for assent in July to enable it to become law but it emerged last week that Buhari declined to accent to the bill.
