Buhari Trying To Avoid Repetition Of History With Petroleum Industry Bill 2020

Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari, said President Muhammadu Buhari will ensure the oil industry reform bill, Petroleum Industry Bill 2020, will be passed into law as the administration is working with lawmakers to achieve this.

In the past decades, since 1999, when the first oil reform bill was drafted, political dispute between the lawmakers and the executive arm prevented passage of the bill, coupled with disagreement involving the oil companies operating in the country.

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AllNews had reported that President Buhari sent a bill to commercialise NNPC to the National Assembly last week of September 2020. Buhari intends to scrap NNPC and form a new company, as well as create new agencies while the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) will also be scraped.

Buhari Will Avoid Repetition Of History

Kyari stated that the oil reform bill will not meet the same fate during the administration of President Buhari. While speaking about the challenges in passing the bill, Kyari said, “This process has been ongoing since 1999 and I’m very positive that this will be brought to closure very soon.”

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He added that “I’m optimistic that through policy engagement and collaboration between the executive, legislature, and stakeholders, this law will be passed.” Kyari said this during a webinar on Monday, October 13, 2020.

Kyari said his knowledge about the ongoing process assured him that passage of the bill is possible, “As an insider in this process, there is complete alignment between the legislature and executive, and other stakeholders who are relevant to this process, so that ultimately we can put this reform on the table."