MEDIATRACNET
A steering committee constituted by President Muhammadu Buhari to oversee the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Bill Act (PIA) 2021 was inaugurated on Wednesday in Abuja.
The steering committee headed by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva is charged with the mandate of setting in motion the process to commence the immediate implementation of the newly signed petroleum industry law approved on Monday.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said other members of the steering committee include
the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources; the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC); Executive Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS); Representatives of the Federal Ministries of Justice, Finance, Budget and National Planning; Senior Special Assistant to the President on Natural Resources; Femi Lijadu as External Legal Adviser.
Adesina said the Executive Secretary, Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) would serve as Head of the Coordinating Secretariat and the Implementation Working Group.
“The primary responsibility of the steering committee shall be to guide the effective and timely implementation of the PIA (Petroleum Industry Act) 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.
The committee was given 12 months duration to carry out the assignment, with periodic updates to be presented to the President.
The PIA, which provides the legal, governance, regulatory and fiscal framework for the Nigerian petroleum industry, was assented to by the President on Monday.
The new law would replace the outdated and archaic laws that have been in existence since the beginning of the country’s oil and gas industry in 1956.
The harmonised version of the draft petroleum industry law was passed by the Senate on July 15, 2021, after the House of Representatives gave its approval to the draft Bill on July 14, ending almost two decades of waiting for a new legal framework for the industry.
The new law also covers the provisions for the development of host communities, and related matters.
