Exclusive: How PIB will end fuel crisis in Nigeria - Reyenieju

Abuja–A lawmaker has proffered a possible solution to the lingering fuel crisis in Nigeria

– According to Hon. Daniel Reyenieju, the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) will put an end to the fuel crisis in the country.

Following the recent fuel scarcity that is rocking the country, Nigerians have continue to agitate for the establishment of refineries and the quick passage of the PIB which is believed will put an end to the fuel crisis in the country.

Hon. Daniel Reyenieju a member representing Warri North, Warri South/ Warri West Federal Constituency (PDP) in the eighth House of Representatives in an exclusive interview, said the PIB was not structured or brought in to favour any section of the country.

He argued that the bill will promote good governance of the oil sector which he said is economically wise for the development ofthe country which is predicated on oil.

Fuel scarcity lingered on in Nigeria

According to him, there is a need for a stronger survival unit in the oil sector that can sustain itself to prevent it from crumbling.

“That is what the PIB is structured to solve, coincidentally and fortunately for me I was in the sixth Assembly when the PIB was introduced under the chairmanship of Hon. Tam Dieffy Bricks from Bayelsa who was chairman, Petroleum Upstream as at then, and he was removed as chairman and Bassey Ottu was brought in as chairman and the PIB was

transferred to Ottu.

“We did all we could, and the last minutes of the 6th Assembly, we were about considering it clause by clause and we lost it, because we couldn’t push it through and the Assembly was over.

“And in the 7th Assembly, it came up again. It had to be started completely afresh and I was

lucky to have returned. So I became the only surviving member of Petroleum Upstream that now conscripted into the Special Ad-hoc committee on PIB and we started it all over again which eventually became a battle.

“We did an excellent job, concluded everything but it took us a while. It was a battle, argument for argument. Constructive engagement and we got the PIB completely done and incidentally again it came to a point where it was considered at the committee of the whole. 

Most Nigerians don’t even know that we actually passed the PIB on the last day of the last Assembly.

“We hit the gavel on it and it passed through. So ordinarily, what I expected the parliament to have done is to bring the PIB again, and go under order 12, on bills from preceding Assembly and then it goes to the committee of the whole for hearing.

“I also got some information that the executive are trying as much as possible to unbundle

the PIB itself, what that means I do not know.

And the point is this, we have come a long way with the PIB, this is the twelveth year of

the PIB in the parliament and almost about 16 years of the PIB in Nigerian domain and public discourse, and I’m yet to find out which of the renown consultants in the nation’s petroleum industry that has not made one or two contributions to the PIB in the past,” he said.

The lawmaker expressed worry that the passage of the bill is taking a longer time, according to him, one year has gone in the present administration which he said has yielded no result on the bill.

He said: “ By next year we will be politically jostling again and the moment you go into political jostling in Nigeria you lost some good time of parliamentary works even that of the executive. 

So what I’m saying in essence is that the PIB, we need it in whatever form, whether it is going to be unbundled, we are waiting for it.

He also explained that there is no law anywhere in the world that’s absolutely perfect. Adding that there was no need for a new PIB as as the old PIB had witnessed all the storms for the past 12 years.

He mentioned that contained in the old PIB, are the issues of unbundling: the office of

the GMD, the office of the minister, the gas resources, the Frontier, 10percent Host Community Funding, Upstream, Downstream and the Inspectorate.

“These were all crafted and we’re made independent, and we have used the parameters

from other civilised countries where oil and gas are found, and made substantial progress

with their oil resources.

“We have the commercials, we came out with everything, the pipelines were also broken

down in such a way to people to invest in it.

“So I do not know what difference they are going to make with this time that we are wasting. 

I’m not saying that Nigerian consultants are not good enough, but I’m really not sure of that thing that they introduce that which will make any sharp positive difference from what we already have, and that’s what I’m waiting to see,” he added.

Speaking on the commitment of the House of Representatives, Reyenieju said there is a

need for the National Assembly to work hard in passing the bill without delay:

“At the end of the day, if the House of Representative do what’s right as an arm of the National Assembly, what we need to do is to seek the gavel of the Senate for concurrence and if the Senate takes it up, what it needs to do is to seek the gavel of the House also for concurrence. 

Either ways, we should allow the law to go, ” he said. He therefore called on the parliament to go back to the days where it had mutual distrust and re-introduce the bill as passed by the seventh House.

Speaking further, he said that in the sixth Assembly, the Senate gave conditions upon which it would support the bill, one of which he mentioned – government must explore oil in the Northern part of the country.

“That same challenges is also rearing it’s head again in the 7th Assembly. Like I always

say, it’s nothing personal, it’s regional neither is it religious. It’s about a law for the good governance of the good people of Nigeria.

“So like said, I do not know to what extent the Senate actually went. It is not just enough to

tear down a document without going through to see the merits and demerits of it. 

The Niger Deltans didn’t complain when they said the Host Community must be the entire country and I think that it’s all because we all wanted a perfect policy structure,” he said.

Culled From NAIJ