Subject PIB to public critical scrutiny, Lawyers tells NASS

Subject PIB to public critical scrutiny, Lawyers tells NASS

by Joseph Anthony
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Senate President Ahmad Lawan and Rep Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila

A league of legal practitioners under the agies of Coalition of Public Interests Lawyers and Advocates (COPA) has called on the National Assembly to subject the Petroleum Industry Bill 2020 (PIB) to thorough and critical public scrutiny before passage in order to achieve the developmental potentials of the Petroleum Industry.

The Coalitionโ€™s Committee Chairman on the Review of the PIB, Barrister Olufemi Franklin Olufemi made this call on Friday in Abuja while addressing newsmen on the outcome of his committeeโ€™s research, findings and the shortfalls in the bill which he maintained may compromise government efforts if not properly addressed before the bill is passed.


The group expressed concern that a critical look at the bill revealed that it contained an array of new and improved legislation that will ensure the reformation of the oil and gas industry but observed that the vision for an improved petroleum regime may be threatened by gaps and inconsistencies in the bill which must be addressed and fixed to advance the developmental potentials of the Oil and Gas sector.
The group noted that it has forwarded a document titled โ€œMemorandum on Petroleum Industry Bill 2020โ€ on itโ€™s research, observations and recommendations on the PIB to all the stakehokders in the industry.
Olufemi said the bulk of the research effort was centred on the failure of the Bill to recognise, situate and provide for the full integration and exploration of the expertise of the non-pool professionals within the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.
โ€œFor proper perspective, the non-pool professionals are specially trained group of experts within the Ministry of Petroleum Resources that were recruited sometime in 2008 in preparation for the implementation of the now defunct Petroleum Industry Bill, 2009 and have been extensively trained as situational experts but whose special skill-sets and expertise are made redundant by an industry regime lacking a legal instrument or provision that statutorily recognises these group of workers.
โ€œIt was hoped that any over-hauling legislation in the petroleum industry would positively identify and treat the systematic redundancy of the Ministryโ€™s non-pool professionals, but it is a negligence that has occurred in the much celebrated new Bill.โ€
The lawyers argued that the neglected professional workforce within the Ministry of Petroleum Resources can save certain operational costs and ensure efficient running of the sector.
The group also recommended the establishment of a National Petroleum Directorate as a professional arm of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources to absorb all the non-pool staff/professionals already engaged in the Ministry of Petroleum Resources. It also called for the restructuring of the ministry into administrative and professional organs.
โ€œWe strongly recommend that the Petroleum Industry Bill, 2020 create and establish a National Petroleum Directorate as a professional arm of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources to immediately absorb all the non-pool staff/professionals already engaged in the Ministry of Petroleum Resources as earlier proposed by successive reports and bills on the need to revitalise the petroleum industry sector.
โ€œSpecifically, the Bill should structure the Ministry of Petroleum Resources into the Administrative and Professional Organ. The Professional Organ should be the National Petroleum Directorate which would serve as the technical expert arm of the Ministry empowered by Law and made up of non-pool staff who, unlike in past regimes, remain a constant reserve of the Ministry regardless of the Ministerโ€™s tenure.
โ€œThe usual practice of a Minister hiring of external professionals as consultants to give policy support to their offices at all times and the resultant drain of the said professionals during the termination of the Ministerโ€™s tenure has not only resulted in an anomaly in the Ministryโ€™s technical and professional make up but has equally brought about the exclusion and under-utilisation of the Ministryโ€™s internationally trained professionals whose potentials are waiting to be explored and maximized,โ€ it added.
To this end the group appealed to the National Assembly to subject the bill to thorough public debate to afford Nigerians the best opportunity to properly interogate all issues about the bill.

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