PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari, on Monday, signed the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), 2021 into law.
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Chief Femi Adesina, disclosed this in a statement he issued in Abuja.
According to the statement, “Working from home in five days quarantine as required by the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19 after returning from London on Friday, August 13, the President assented to the Bill, Monday, August 16, in his determination to fulfill his constitutional duty.
“The ceremonial part of the new legislation will be done on Wednesday, after the days of mandatory isolation would have been fulfilled.”
The Petroleum Industry Act contains 5 chapters and provides a legal, governance, regulatory and fiscal framework for the Nigerian petroleum industry, the development of host communities, and related matters.
The passage of the PIB has proved to be a real nightmare for successive administrations since the need for the bill was first mooted by the former President Olusegun Obasanjo administration.
In 2018, after the national assembly passed a harmonized version of the bill — the petroleum industry governance bill (PIGB), President Muhammadu Buhari refused to assent due to “legal and constitutional reasons”.
Recall that the Senate had passed the Bill on July 15, while the House of Representatives did the same on July 16,.
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