Buhari orders immediate implementation of controversial Petroleum Industry Act

President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered immediate implementation of the controversial Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), as he appointed a committee to immediately commence the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).

The president issued the steering committee 12 months duration to effect the implementation of the new oil Act which has generated controversies.  The committee is headed by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva.

President Buhari approved the committee on Wednesday as he was making remarks on the controversial Act he assented to two days ago.

President Buhari, speaking at a meeting with the National Assembly leadership led by the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said that relevant ministries, departments, and agencies have been tasked to work with Sylva towards the successful completion of the implementation process.

The president noted  that lack of political will has hindered the growth of the oil industry, claiming that Nigeria has lost about $50 billion in the last 10 years.

According to President Buhari, “the primary responsibility of the steering committee shall be to guide the effective and timely implementation of the PIA in the course of transition to the petroleum industry envisaged in the reform programme, and ensure that the new institutions created have the full capability to deliver on their mandate under the new legislation.”

Members of the committee were identified to include the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Group Managing Director of NNPC, Executive Chairman of Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), and representatives of the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning.

The Senior Special Assistant on Natural Resources to President Buhari, Olufemi Lijadu, was appointed External Legal Adviser of the committee; the Executive Secretary of Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) was made the Head of the Coordinating Secretariat and the Implementation Working Group.

The PIA has generated monumental controversies over the slim 3% allocation to oil host communities while 40% is being allocated to oil exploration which had over the years been concentrated in the north, President Buhari’s primary constituency.