Buhari’s aide fault President’s signing of inadequate PIB

An appointee of President Muhammadu Buhari in the president’s economic think tank, Bismarck Rewane, on Monday faulted the president’s signing of the Petroleum Industry Bill 2021 which prescribes 3% allocation to oil-producing communities. He berated the president over the decision to sign the Petroleum Industry Bill 2021 passed by the National Assembly into law without considering the rejection of the 3% allocation by the affected stakeholders. The renowned Economist  stated emphatically that the 3% is not the ideal compensation for oil host communities.

The Senate and House of Representatives passed the controversial PIB on July 15 and 16, respectively, while President Muhammadu Buhari signed the document on August 16.

Rewane, Managing Director of Financial Derivatives Company Limited, argued that the action of the Nigerian government on the controve4ersial PIB is improper.

Rewane had declared: “I am not sure that it is fair for the oil-producing communities, who suffer – if you go there, compared to other parts of the country where they produce no oil and see the level of affluence, there are multi-dimensional theft and degradation in the host communities. It is rape and that is what is happening, but an imperfect bill is better than no bill.

“Finally, the big elephant in the room; the host communities and the three percent allocation. Is the three percent the ideal, optimal compensation for the host communities? I will say, ‘No’ because I come from there but at the same time, what is more, important for the oil communities is the transparency of the money that is spent and the impact it has rather than having a tea party.

“Oil contributes 10 per cent of our GDP but it contributes 75 to 80 percent of our foreign exchange earnings, 70 percent of our fiscal revenues and when we take LNG and add it to oil, we’ll have 95 percent of revenues. So, directly, or indirectly, this is the goose that lays the golden egg. We’ve got to nurture it even though the obsolescence of oil is a declining function of time right now. Two, the irrelevance of OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) is staring at us, so, we have to make hay while the sun is shining even though the cloud is overcast.”