Again, PIB suffers setback, as Senate suspends debate

Proponents of the controversial Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) on Tuesday got the shock of their lives, as the Senate abruptly suspended debate on the bill.

The bill, which would have passed Second Reading, however faced stiff opposition by senators predominantly from the Southern part of the country.

Midway into the lead debate by sponsor of the bill, Tayo Alasoadura (APC, Ondo Central), senators started murmuring; a situation that forced the Senate minority leader, Godswill Akpabio to raise a Point of Order.

Speaking on behalf of other senators, Akpabio insisted that copies of the bill be circulated to all senators to study ahead of formal debate so that they could study and make useful contributions.

Senate president, Bukola Saraki, who presided over the session, ruled that the debate be stood down to Wednesday, and asked Alasoadura to ensure that the financial compendium was attached to the bill.

“We observed that the financial compendium is not there that was no time to do the three issues. So, please ensure that the bill that has been distributed is brought and we will now put it before the next debate,” Saraki told Alasoadura.

Alasoadura had presented the bill as Senate Bill, prompting Kabir Marafa (APC, Zamfara central), to oppose the upper chamber for taking credit on its sponsorship.

Speaking through a Point of Order, he contended that the bill was an executive bill, pointing out that it was wrong for the Senate to present itself as its sponsor.

His words: “I come under Order 76, which reads “there shall be three classes of bills, namely, Executive Bill, Members Bill and Private Bill.

“As far as I can remember, the PIB was an executive bill, submitted to this chamber and as an executive bill, it was submitted wholly as one bill to be considered equally and thoroughly.

“To my greatest surprise, the presenter here is telling us that he has separated the bill into parts and pieces to be considered and I don’t know where he drew that authority from because the Executive has already submitted one bill and not part and pieces.

“So, I want to suggest that the presenter brings the bill as presented by the Executive arm of government.”

But Saraki denied the claim, saying there was no bill on PIB from the Executive in the eighth Senate.

The bill seeks to create efficient and effective institutions with clear and separate roles for the petroleum industry; establish a framework for the creation of commercially oriented and profit driven petroleum entities that ensures value addition and internationalization of the petroleum industry; promote transparency and accountability in the administration of the petroleum resources of Nigeria and create a conducive business environment for petroleum industry operations.

It also seeks to unbundle the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to two commercial entities limited by shares: the National Petroleum Company and the National Assets Management Company.