The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has said that the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) when passed by the National Assembly and assented to by the president would address perceived anomalies in the oil sector.
Kachi Ononuju, a chieftain of the party, stated this at the Nigerian Political Parties Debate on Thursday in Abuja, organised by the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD), Abuja.
Ononuju said that for the country‘s petroleum sector to get it right, it must be privatised, adding that the PDP-led government would ensure that.
He, however, stressed that the passage of the bill was being stalled because of emotions based on regional sentiments.
“My party’s intention is to work to break that emotional logjam and give Nigerians a free hand to operate the sector.”
He added that the PDP would ensure a workable PIB that would be beneficial to Nigerians and bring the best to the country.
He, however, stressed that unless the oil sector was left to private individuals to manage, the perceived corruption in the sector would persist. The debate, which was the second in the series, was focused on the Nigerian natural resources and its management. The chieftain added that PDP as a party would continue to reform the civil service by checking corrupt practices.
He said that though the Federal Government still had some challenges in oil and gas sector, it was working hard to reduce cost of governance and budgetary allocation at all levels of governance.
The APC spokesman, Lai Mohammed, on the other hand, said that if the party was elected into the presidency, it would ensure the full participation of Nigerians in discussions concerning the oil and gas sector.
This, he said, the party would do, using the National Assembly platform.
According to him, the corruption in the oil sector is retarding its progress, adding the party will unbundle the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
