Between the European Super League and Nigeria’s PIB
By
‘May you live in interesting times,’ they say.
If there were a time this expression of questionable origin has manifested, it would be the last one week with all its attendant drama and hallmark happenings. There have been several exciting news events this week already. Idriss Deby, Chad’s longtime warrior ruler, was killed at the frontline defending his country; Derek Chauvin was convicted of the murder of George Floyd; and the regulars from Nigeria bandits overrunning a military facility in Niger State, bandits here, terrorist there and the Pantami revelation.
In January, when representatives of oil-producing communities converged at the National Assembly for a public hearing on the controversial Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), they turned the venue into a wrestling ring. The visitors from Niger Delta were in Abuja to clarify their interests in the bill and protest perceived injustice by the federal government and oil companies. Among their demands was a 10% equity shareholding in the oil companies operating in their communities. This was against the provision of the bill, which provides for the creation of Petroleum Host Communities Fund (PHCF) to grant the victimized people 2.5% of the oil companies’ actual operating expenditure for the preceding year.
Why aren’t Nigerians curious about the new PIB?
Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB)
Sun Apr 18 2021
In January, when representatives of oil-producing communities converged at the National Assembly for a public hearing on the controversial Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), they turned the venue into a wrestling ring. The visitors from Niger Delta were in Abuja to clarify their interests in the bill and protest perceived injustice by the federal government and oil companies. Among their demands was a 10% equity shareholding in the oil companies operating in their communities. This was against the provision of the bill, which provides for the creation of Petroleum Host Communities Fund (PHCF) to grant the victimized people 2.5% of the oil companies’ actual operating expenditure for the preceding year.
By Solina Kennedy, Martin Dietrich Brauch, Perrine Toledano, and Tehtena Mebratu-Tsegaye
With Nigeria’s National Assembly debating the proposed Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) in the first quarter of 2021––after nearly two decades of attempted reform of the country’s petroleum sector––Nigeria has a unique opportunity to rethink the role of the oil and gas industry in Nigeria’s economy and build out the country’s energy sector and economic capacity for the long term. CCSI’s report Equipping the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for the Low-Carbon Transition, released before the PIB was publicized, advances suggestions on how to do so.
Financial experts are clamoring against Dangote refinery not to be allowed to become a monopoly in the manner of the state-run NNPC, if the 65 barrel per day refinery comes on board.
A look at the controversial clause in Nigeria’s long awaited Petroleum Industry Bill, (PIB), that’s still being debated in Nigeria’s parliament.
Barely two weeks ago, the conglomerate proposed a provision in the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) seeking to ban the importation of oil by companies without refining licences, which according to the company, will help spur investments in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
Dangote also recommended that the volume of fuel imported should be distributed according to what each refinery produces.