NIGERIA’s President, MUHAMMADU BUHARI has asked the Senate to amend certain provisions of the controversial Petroleum Industry Act.
According to reports, the joint National Assembly committees that worked on the PIB had proposed a five percent equity share for the development of the host communities but the Senate led the campaign for its reduction to three percent while the House of Representatives approved the panel’s recommendation.
The development generated chaos with senators from the South-South geopolitical zone kicking against it and asked BUHARI to resolve the issue by seeking an amendment to increase the equity share to five percent. However, the new amendments proposed by the President did not address the concerns of the South-South stakeholders.
BUHARI’s fresh request centers on the need to review the administrative structure of the Upstream Regulatory Commission and the Nigerian Midstream Regulatory Authority.
Buhari is seeking the senators’ approval to increase the numbers of the non-executive board members of each of the regulatory agencies from two to six, in order to capture the six geopolitical zones.
