Leadership of the House of Representatives on Monday accused the Executive of frustrating the proposed reform in the oil and gas sector of the Nigerian economy.
Speaker Yakubu Dogara, who stated this while addressing Frederick Ramsfield, former prime minister of Sweden, however assured the delegation of the House resolve to represent the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), which was transmitted to the Senate for concurrence in the seventh Assembly.
The 280-page ‘Bill and Memorandum on Legal and Regulatory Framework, Institutions and Regulatory Authorities for Nigerian Petroleum Industry,’ seen by BusinessDay, seeks to “establish guidelines for the operations of the upstream and downstream sectors and for other purposes connected,” has been gazetted for presentation on the floor of the House.
Dogara noted that in as much as parliament was willing and in fact cooperating with the executive arm of government in bringing about the necessary reform in the oil and gas industry, it would not be held back by the procrastinating nature of the Presidency, in coming up with a bill that would not only reform the sector, but amend necessary laws guiding its operations.
Speaking earlier, Fredrick Ramsfield, who served eight years as Sweden’s Prime Minister and another 15 in the Swedish parliament, commended Nigeria for its early acceptance of Transparency Initiative principles in its extractive industries and also backing it up by law.
Ramsfield, who will be inducted as incoming chairman of the international Board of EITI on February 25 in Lima, Peru, also urged other member African countries to go the Nigerian way by establishing and empowering local chapters of EITI.
KEHINDE AKINTOLA
