***urges Buhari to review the contentious bill before signing into law.
Condemnations have continued to trail certain provisions of the Petroleum Industry Bill passed by the National Assembly which are regarded as lopsided.
For instance , both Chambers while harmonizing certain provisions endorsed 3 % for community development fund, while a whopping 30% was reserved for exploration in frontier basins.
Oil and Gas Host Communities Association of Nigeria (OGHCAN), in a statement described the 3% to the host communities as begging the question and queried the rationale behind the appropriation of a hefty 30% to the frontier basins.
This is contained in a statement signed by its executive director, John Usen and made available to newsmen in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
The group reasoned that although the PIB will bring sanity into the oil industry, it however stressed the need to rework certain contentious provisions and jack up the fund to host communities given the degradation and impoverishment caused by oil exploration and exploitative activities in these communities.
The statement reads in part, “It is a welcomed development that the long awaited PIB has finally been passed by the National Assembly. The legislation contains strong transparency and accountability provisions which if followed to the letter will ensure improvement in the oil sector performance as lack of transparency discourages competition, illicit behaviour and turn away investors.
“This is more so because a transparent and accountable institution will boost the confidence of investors, improve regulation and revenue and result in higher production and earning. But the success or otherwise of PIB will depend on political leadership.
“We however question the yardstick used by the National Assembly to peg the community development fund at 3%, while the frontier basins received outrageous 30%. We view this as lopsided and a slap on the Niger Delta being the goose that lays the golden eggs which have been feeding the nation for over 50years now.
“We recall that during the public hearing on the bill, many groups and critical stakeholders agreed on 10% for host communities, but we are dismayed that the lawmakers jettisoned the yearnings of the people they were elected to represent. The question therefore is, whose interest is the bill going to serve?
“The walk out by members of the minority parties in the green chambers of the national assembly is a reflection of the feelings of the people they represent, and it will be seen as a deliberate act to undermine the people of the Niger Delta if the bill is signed into law.
“We therefore call on President Muhammadu Buhari to review some of these contentious provisions before appending his signature so as to ensure equity and fair play and also nip in the bud litigations that would likely arise from some of the grey areas.”
