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updated 10:20 AM UTC, Dec 13, 2023

Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB) Approved By Nigerian Lawmakers’

Unic Press UK: The Nigerian Senate, during a plenary session on Wednesday, the 28th March 2018, adopted the Conference Committee Report on the Petroleum Industry and Governance Bill, 2018 (SB. 237) as presented by Senator Donald O. Alasoadura (APC – Ondo Central).

The governance section of the Bill unbundled the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), creating of new commercial entities that would award exploration licences, conduct bid rounds and manage assets and liabilities. It scrapped both the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA).

The Petroleum Industry and Governance Bill create a Petroleum Equalization Fund into which shall be paid all monies payable to the Equalization Fund by way of a five per cent fuel levy.

The events of 28th March during the Senate plenary, in which the Conference Committee Report on the Petroleum Industry and Governance Bill (PIGB) was adopted, marked the acceptance of the harmonized version of the Bill as proposed by the two legislative bodies.

It was in May 2017 that the upper chamber of Nigeria’s bicameral legislative body, The Senate, initially passed the Petroleum Industry and Governance Bill (PIGB). This was followed by the lower chamber [House of Representatives] approval in January 2018.

In his remarks, the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, said:

“The challenge will always be on the need to get consensus on an issue as important as this one. The passage of this Conference Committee Report on the PIGB will also lay the foundation for the other Bills that are coming. We have again shown investors both within and outside the country that this National Assembly is very responsible in the areas that have to do with the laws that govern our petroleum sector. I am sure that we will hopefully get the assent of Mr. President and open a new page in Nigeria’s petroleum industry.”

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