Adeosun, Emefiele, Others Absent at PIB Hearing

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

On Monday, June 04, 2018, the Senate commenced a three-day public hearing on the Petroleum Industry Bill in Abuja.

The hearing was organised by the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream) to get views of stakeholders on the three bills under the PIB: the Petroleum Industry Administration Bill, 2018; Petroleum Industry Fiscal Bill, 2018; and the Petroleum Host and Impacted Communities Bill, 2018.

However, Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, and her counterpart in the Petroleum Resources, Mr Ibe Kachikwu, were not seen at the event.

Also not at the public hearing was Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, among other top officials of federal government.

The embattled Senate President, Mr Bukola Saraki, who was at the event, said he was not happy with the absence of senior government officials at the hearing, especially those handling key economic positions in the country.

Though the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr Maikanti Baru, was also not at the event, he was represented by the Chief Operating Officer in charge of Gas and Power at the corporation, Mr Saidu Mohammed.

The Senate President, while speaking at the hearing, said, “We [will] continue to do the work needed to put our economy on the road to recovery.”

He explained that the PIB “will go a long way in reforming our oil and gas sector and encouraging investment for our collective good.”

Also speaking at the event, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Upstream), Mr Kabiru Marafa, decried the low turnout of government officials.

He said the PIB was very important to the economy of Nigeria and wondered why the government officials did not honour invitation to be at the hearing.