George Oji
6 November 2009
Abuja — The 10 per cent equity from oil interest proposed by the Federal Government for oil producing communities will be incorporated into the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) and passed into law by the National Assembly before its implementation.
Special Adviser to the President on Petroleum, Emmanuel Egbogha, who revealed this yesterday while fielding questions from State House Correspondents, expressed optimism that the National Assembly would passe the bill before the middle of next year, to give way for its smooth implementation.
Egbogha, who said the 10 per cent oil equity will apply to all the oil assets and businesses in the country, added that it was part of government's programmes to ensure the success of the amnesty programme.
Egbogha said details of the equity participation iscurrently being worked out, including communities that will bene fit from it, for onward passage to the National Assembly to ensure its quick passage into law.
"We are now working on the details to send to the National Assembly for approval, so that it will be duly incorporated into the Petroleum Industry Bill, which is still pending at the National Assembly," Egbogha said, noting that, "this is not a matter of budget but this will give 10per cent net revenue interest to the host communitiesover all the entire oil production in the country, provided it is from the oil producing communities."
Egbogha, who commended President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua on his efforts at ensuring that the problems that led to militancy in the Niger Delta are permanently addressed, described the 10 per cent equity deal as the mother of all resolutions.
"Of course there are a lot of programmes to make the amnesty work, but this is the mother of all resolutions, because we are now granting to the host community 10 per cent in the oil business in Nigeria, this is very big, much bigger than the 13per cent derivation that the states are getting," he said. He said "there is nobody in the oil community who will haveany justification to raise alarm over what is happening there, because the business is yours now.
This is not a short time measure, that is why I say this is going to be passed by the National Assembly and incorporated in to the Petroleum Industry Bill and that becomes a law."
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