Ejiofor Alike
15 October 2008
Lagos — The Special Adviser to President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua on Petroleum Matters, Dr Emmanuel Egbogah, has said that the oil and gas industry reform bill currently before the National Assembly, will be passed in a matter of weeks.
The bill seeks the repeal of the Act establishing the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) among other provisions.
Speaking yesterday at the 2008 annual pre-conference workshop of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) in Lagos , Egbogah said the speedy passage of the bill would ensure the immediate implementation of the report of the Oil and Gas Implementation Committee (OGIC) before the presidency.
"OGIC report will be reactivated very soon because we are waiting for the Senate to look at the new oil industry bill before we can proceed with the implementation".
The report will not wait for years; the report may wait for a few weeks. The report is with the presidency.
You know the Executive Council has approved the reforms; now what is being waited for is for the Senate to give its own assent to it," he explained.
The Presidential Adviser also said that both the executive and the legislature had been collaborating to ensure that the bill is passed as soon as possible.
"Meanwhile, the Presidency is waiting to have a proper discussion with the Senate to ask them to have accelerated the process of approving the new oil industry bill. As you know, the industry bill is very extensive; it is complete revision of everything we have had in the industry over the years and I think this process should be completed before the end of this month," Egbogah said.
Allaying the fears expressed in some quarters that the repeal of the Act establishing the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) may delay the passage of the bill, Egbogah stated that all the work on the bill had been completed.
"An Act established the NNPC and that must be repealed before a new one takes effect. All the work has been done; it is just to get the approval of the law makers" he said.They are studying the bill now. In fact, we have been doing it together with the Federal Ministry of Justice and Attorney General. If there is anything bad it couldn't have been on the bill today. So, everything is ready; it is just to go through the normal process of giving the three-time accent by the Senate," he added
Minister of State for Energy (Petroleum), Mr Odein Ajumogobia also said last week at the Africa Upstream 2008 Oil Conference in South Africa that the National Assembly would soon pass the oil sector reforms bill.
"We believe the national assembly is on board to pass the new petroleum reform bill," he said.
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