Ijaw Professionals Seek Amendment To Petroleum Industry Bill

The Ijaw Professionals Association (IPA) has made a strong recommendation for an amendment of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) currently before the National Assembly to remove the discretionary powers of the President and the Minister of Petroleum Resources, and also expunge the compulsory acquisition of resources by th

e federal government in Section 2 of the reform bill.
The group also described as curious, the section of the bill, which provides that the cost of repairs of vandalised oil and gas facilities involving any member of an oil- producing community should be deducted from the 10 per cent Petroleum Host Community Fund (PHCF), saying this provision should also be expunged.
The Ijaw professionals said when the bill is eventually passed with some modifications that reflect vital stakeholder interests, the credit would go to President Goodluck Jonathan and the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison Madueke, two of the most illustrious personalities from Ijaw-land, for putting back the PIB on an irreversible track.

Wills said the section of the PIB dealing with PHCF, which provides that “where an act of vandalism, sabotage or other civil unrest occurs that causes damage to any petroleum facility within a host community, the cost of repairs of such facility shall be paid from the community's PHC Fund entitlement unless it is established that no member of the community was responsible,” was antiquated and also stretched the limits of credulity.
He stated that the 10 per cent PHCF in Nigeria’s PIB compares favourably to Ghana’s 20 per cent; Peru’s 20 per cent; India’s 26 per cent; Niger’s 15 per cent; Kenya’s five per cent, as well as the Brazilian model of paying a percentage of royalties from oil and gas “to municipalities where the production takes place, municipalities where pipelines and other oil installations pass through and also municipalities either closest to or affected by the landing or shipment of oil and gas”.