President Buhari signs Petroleum Industry Bill into law
President Muhammadu Buhari has signed the Petroleum Industry Bill 2021 into law after weeks by the National Assembly.
Presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina said Buhari assented to the bill on Monday in his determination to fulfill his constitutional duty.
The bill had remained at the National Assembly for more than a decade, with successive sessions of the Senate and House of Representatives failing to approve its provisions of sweeping reforms for the oil and gas sector.
The bill’s eventual passage on July 15 was dimmed by a controversy over the allocation of three per cent revenue to host communities in the Niger Delta, while a fund for the exploration of oil in frontier basins, mostly in northern states, received 30 per cent.
The quota was rejected by the Southern Governors’ Forum and leaders of the South-south region, including a former minister, Edwin Clark. Representatives of the area demanded 10 per cent, or in the minimum, five per cent as earlier passed by the House of Representatives.
The Petroleum Industry Act provides legal, governance, regulatory and fiscal framework for the Nigerian petroleum industry, the development of host communities, and related matters
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